The Conior. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



TBOPICAL BIRDS OF PllEY. 



The Condor — His Marvelloxis Flight — His Cowardice — Various Modes of Cap- 

 turing Condors — Ancient Fables circulated about them — Comparison of the 

 Condor with the Albatross — The Carrion Vultures — The King of the Vultures 

 — Domestication of the Urubu — Its Extraordinary Memory — The Harpy 

 Eagle — Examples of his Ferocity — The Oricou — The Bacha — His Cruelty to 

 the Klipdachs — The Fishing Ejigle of Africa — The Musical Sparrow-hawk — 

 The Secretary Eagle. 



THE flight of the Condor is truly wonderful. From the 

 mountain-plains of the Andes, the royal bird, soaring aloft, 

 appears only like a small black speck on the sky, and a few hours 

 [afterwards he descends to the coast and mixes his loud screech 

 »with the roar of the surf. No living creature rises voluntarily 

 80 high, none traverses in so short a time all the climates of 

 the globe. He rests at night in the crevices of the rocks, or on 

 some jutting ledge; but as soon as the first rays of the sun 

 light the summits of the mountains, while the darkness of night 

 Jtill rests upon the deeper valleys, he stretches forth his neck, 

 shakes his head as if fully to rouse himself, stoops over the 

 orink of the abyss, and flapping his wings, dives into the aerial 

 bcean. At first his flight is by no means strong, he sinks as if 

 i3orne down by his weight, but soon he ascends, and sweeps 



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