604 KEPTILES AND BIRDS. 



Condors do not assemble in flocks except when devouring an 

 animal of great size. The hen bird lays a couple of eggs in a 

 crevice on the mountains or cliffs; nest-building they entirely disregard. 

 The rearing of the young requires several months ; the parent birds 

 feed them by disgorging into their bills the food which they have 

 stored in their crops. All the Vulture tribe do the same. 



The Condor is tamed with difficulty ; captivity seems only to 

 increase its savage nature. Humboldt kept one at Quito for eight 

 days, and he states that to approach it was always dangerous. 



The King Vulture (Sarcorhamphus papa y Fig. 282) is distinguished 

 from the Condor by the collar or ruff which surrounds the neck being 

 slate colour, and also by its orange crest, situated on the top of the 

 bill. Instead of confining itself to arid and barren localities, it 

 frequents plains and wooded hills, and nests in the hollows of old 

 trees. Its habits are, however, very much the same as those of the 

 condor. It has been named the King of the Vultures because the 

 other species dread it, as it appropriates their prey. It is found in 

 Mexico, Guiana, Peru, Brazil, and Paraguay, and occasionally in 

 Florida, doubtless its most northern habitat. In this species the 

 female has a crest as well as the male. 



The genus Catharta has a long and elongated bill ; the head and 

 neck bare ; the nostrils oblong and pierced through ; the wings 

 obtuse, and reaching a little beyond the tail. There are three 

 species : the Urubu and the Turkey Buzzard, natives of America, and 

 the Alpine Vulture, or Pharaoh's Hen of Bruce, peculiar to the Old 

 World. 



The Urubu ( Vultur atratus, Fig. 283), is the size of a small 

 Turkey. Its plumage, of a brilliant black, gives it a somewhat dismal 

 look, which is amply justified by its disgusting habits. This bird is 

 of a sociable nature, and is always met with in numerous flocks. 

 Like all birds which subsist on decomposed animal matter, it is the 

 constant guest of man, and accompanies him in all his wanderings 

 through its habitat. In nearly all the large towns oi South America 

 it has acquired rights of citizenship, where it may be seen almost in 

 a domestic state, and multiplying under the protection of the laws. 

 In Peru the inhabitants are interdicted from killing a Urubu under 

 penalty of ten pounds. The same prohibition exists in Jamaica. 



This will easily be understood when it is explained that in these 

 countries the Urubus perform the whole duty of cleansing the public 

 streets from all kinds of filth and garbage, which, under the influence 

 of a tropical sun, would certainly infect the air and engender con- 

 tinual epidemics. These birds, officiating as public scavengers, 



