ACCIPITRES -- CONDOR. 



V. GALLING, or the poultry kind; and VI. PASSERES, or 

 the sparrow kind ; containing altogether about a thousand 

 species. 



ORDER I. ACCIPITRES, OR THE RAPACIOUS 

 KIND. 



BIRDS of the hawk kind constitute that class which live 

 by rapine. They are distinguished by their beaks ; which 

 are hooked, strong, and notched at the points ; by their 

 short muscular legs, their strong toes, and their sharp 

 crooked talons ; by the strength of their bodies, and the 

 impurity of their flesh ; by the nature of their food ; and 

 by the cruelty and ferocity of their disposition. 



THE CONDOR. 



This is the largest bird of the vulture kind ; and for 

 magnitude, strength, and rapacity, is without a rival 

 among the winged tribes. It is formidable not only to 

 animals but sometimes to man himself. According to 

 some authors, the expansion of its wings is eighteen feet, 

 the beak is strong and sharp enough to perforate the body 

 of a cow, and two of these creatures will devour an ox at 

 a single repast. 



Indeed the condor shows no signs of alarm at the ap- 

 proach of man ; through the benignity of Providence, 

 however, there are but few of the species, or the conse- 

 quences might be dreadful. If we may credit the testi- 

 mony of the Indians of South America, where alone the 

 condor is found, it will carry off a deer or a young calf 

 in its talons, as easily as an eagle carries off a hare or a 

 rabbit. It seldom frequents the forests, as it requires a 

 large space for the display of its wings ; but is sometimes 

 seen on the sea-shore, and the banks of rivers ; whither it 

 descends at certain seasons from the heights of the moun- 

 tains or the deserts, which are, for the most part, peopled 



