4 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



With respect to their propagation, I was told by the country people in 

 Chile, that the Condor makes no sort of nest, but in the months of November 

 and December, lays two large white eggs on a shelf of bare rock. Certainly, on 

 the Patagonian coast, I could not see any sort of nest among the cliffs, where 

 the young ones were standing. I was told that the yoimg Condors could 

 not fly for a whole year, but this probably was a mistake, since M. D'Orbigny 

 says they take to the wing in about a month and a half after being hatched. 

 On the fifth of March (corresponding to our September), I saw a young bird at 

 Concepcion, which, though in size only little inferior to a full-grown one, was 

 completely covered by down, like that of a gosling, but of a blackish colour. 

 I can, however, scarcely believe that this bird could have used, for some months 

 subsequently, its wings for flight. After the period when the young Condor 

 can fly, apparently as well as the old birds, they yet remain (as 1 observed 

 in Patagonia) both roosting at night on the same ledge, and hunting by day 

 with their parents : but before the young bird has the ruff round its neck 

 white, it may often be seen hunting by itself. At the mouth of the Santa Cruz, 

 during part of April and May, a pair of old birds might be seen every day, 

 either perched on a certain ledge, or sailing about in company with a single 

 young one, which latter, though full fledged, had not its ruff white. 



The Condors generally live by pairs ; but among the basaltic cliffs of the 

 plains, high up the river Santa Cruz, I found a spot where scores must usually 

 haunt. They were not shy; and on coming suddenly to the brow of the precipice, 

 it was a fine sight to see between twenty and thirty of these great* birds start 

 heavily from their resting place, and wheel away in majestic circles. From the 

 large quantity of dung on the rocks, they must have long frequented this cliff; 

 and probably they both roost and breed there. Having gorged themselves with 

 carrion on the plains below, they retire to these favourite ledges to digest their 

 food in quietness. From these facts, the Condor must, to a certain degree be 

 considered, like the Gallinazo {Cathartes atratus), a gregarious bird. In this part 

 of the country they live almost entirely on the guanacoes, which either have 

 died a natural death, or, as more commonly happens, have been killed by the 

 pumas. I believe, from what I saw in Patagonia, that they do not, on ordinary 

 occasions, extend their daily excursions to any great distance from their regular 

 sleeping places. 



The condors may oftentimes be seen at a great height, soaring over a certain 

 spot in the most graceful spires and circles. On some occasions I am sure that they 

 do this for their sport ; but on others, the Chileno countryman tells you, that they 

 are watching a dying animal, or the puma devouring its prey. If the condors 



* I measured a specimen, which I killed there : it was from tip to tip of wing, eight and a half feet ; and 

 from end of beak to end of tail four feet. 



