CONDORS. 339 



" He covered a quantity of highly offensive offal with a 

 canvas cloth, and strewed pieces of meat on top of it, which 

 the vultures ate up with their beaks within one eighth of an 

 inch of the putrid mass without discovering it. A small rent 

 was then made in the canvas, when the offal was at once 

 discovered. Similar experiments were tried several times with 

 the same results, and these facts are attested by the signa- 

 tures of Mr. Buchanan and six others." * 



This would seem to place the matter almost beyond 

 the possibility of a doubt. The condor spoken of 

 above is an immense bird inhabiting the mountain 

 region of Peru and Chili in considerable numbers, which 

 frequently measures from 8 to 9 feet from tip to tip 

 across the wings, and they may often be seen circling 

 over the earth at such an enormous height that they 

 look like mere specks in the azure vault. At that vast 

 altitude common sense will show that it is highly 

 improbable that they could scent anything upon the 

 earth beneath. The flight however of these great 

 birds is singularly majestic, and a model of graceful 

 power. Mr. Darwin, says he " watched a flock of 

 condors (near Lima) ascending and descending for 

 nearly half an hour without ever seeming to give a 

 single flap of the wings, but the head and neck turned 

 frequently, " f thus showing how intently they were 

 watching the landscape below. 



This power of birds to sail through the atmosphere 

 without appearing to use the least exertion to direct 

 their flight is a very wonderful one; they appear to 



* Jorirnal of Researches into Natural History and Geology during 

 the Voyage of H. M.S. "Beagle" (1832 1836), by Charles Darwin, 

 1873, P- 185. 



f Ibid., p. 185. 



