TROPICAL AMERICA. BIRDS. 



81 



black and turkey buzzards of North America, is still 

 a matter of doubt. The king vulture ( V. papa L.) is 

 also large ; and its head and neck, although naked, are 

 beautifully coloured. But the most remarkable bird of 

 this tribe in South America, or in the world, is the 

 famous condor of the Andes. 

 It appears to extend its range 

 over a long extent of those 

 immense mountains, but has 

 not yet been met with in 

 Brazil, or in the less elevated 

 provinces on the eastern side 

 of the Cordilleras. In these 

 flatter and more wooded dis- 

 tricts, the place of the condor 

 is filled by a bird little infe- 

 rior in size, but much more 

 cruel and destructive in its 

 habits; named, on this account, 

 the destroying eagle (Aquila 

 destructor, fig. 31.). While 

 the condor is restricted to the 

 highest mountains, this formidable bird ranges over the 

 forests of the coast, and particularly those of Demerara, 

 Para, and Brazil. It flies with majestic rapidity, and 

 preys only upon deer, sloths, monkeys, and the larger 

 quadrupeds ; pursuing them with velocity, and tearing 

 them in pieces with its enormous talons. The different 

 Caracaras, more resembling eagles than kites, are also 

 peculiar to this part of the world. The owls, unlike 

 those of the North, are of a small size ; and one spe- 

 cies in the gardens of Pernambuco, was, in size, inferior 

 to the thrush. 



(115.) The chief families of perching birds we have 

 already enumerated ; but many others may be noticed 

 for their beauty or their singularity. The numerous 

 tyrant flycatchers are seen in all the open tracts and 

 gardens, perched on the surrounding branches, and per- 

 petually on the watch for insects. The water-chats 

 G 



