CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 1. RAPTORES. 59 



of Plants, at Paris, wliich the writer of this has often witnessed — on wliich occasion these crea- 

 tures, usually dozing on their perch, are suddenly roused to demoniac frenzy, and scream and 

 fiirhtand gorge themselves with a voracity that seems like madness — is horrible beyond description. 



The condor has its chosen home in the most elevated peaks of the Andes ; but it is also set ii 

 in the Cordilleras of Central America and Mexico, and it is said also in the southern part of the 

 Rocky Mountain range. It makes no nest, but deposits its eggs upon the naked rock ; these are 

 wholly white, and three or four inches in length. It is said that the female remains with her 

 brood for a year ; the young have no feathers ; the body, for several months, is covered only with 

 .. very fine down or whitish frizzled hair, which resembles that of young owls. This down dis- 

 fiijures the young bird so much that in this state it appears almost as large as an adult. 



Genus CATIIARTES : Cathartes. — This genus includes several species, all American, three of 

 them found within the boundaries of the United States. That which is most familiarly known 

 is tlie Tl'rkey-Buzzaru or Turkey-Vulture, C. aura — the Vultur aura of Wilson — which ex- 

 tends from the southern boundary of New York to the West Indies and South America, being 

 abundant in the warm regions and rare in the northern portions of its range. In the Middle 

 States it is partially migratory, the greater part retiring to the south on the approach of cold 

 weather. But numbers remain all the winter in Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey, particu- 

 larly in the vicinity of the large rivers and the ocean, which afford a supply of food at all seasons. 

 In New Jersey it hatches in May, the deep recesses of the solitary swamps of that state affording 

 situations well suited to the puipose. The female is at no pains to form a nest with materials; 

 but, having chosen a suitable place, which is either a truncated hollow tree, an excavated stump, 

 or log, slie lays on the rotten wood from two to four eggs, of a dull, dirty white, or pale cream 

 color, splashed all over with chocolate, mingled with blackish touches, the blotches largest and 

 thickest toward the great end ; the form something like the egg of a goose, but blunter at the 

 small end ; length two inches and three-quarters. The male watches often while the female is 

 silting, and, if not disturbed, they will occupy the same breeding-place for several years. The 

 young are clothed with a whitish down similar to that which covers young goslings. If any per- 

 son approach the nest, and attempt to handle them, they will immediately vomit such offensive 

 matter as to compel the intruder to a precipitate retreat. This species are gregarious, peaceable, 

 and harmless, never offering any violence to a live animal, or depriving the husbandman of his 

 stock. Hence, though i'". consequence of their filthy habits they are not beloved, they are respected 

 and tolerated for their usefulness where they are most needed. They generally roost at night in 

 flocks on the limbs of large trees, and they may be seen on a summer morning spreading out their 

 wings to the rising sun, and remaining in that posture for a considerable time. 



These birds, unless when rising from the earth, seldom flap their wings, but sweep along in 

 ogees, and dipping and rising lines, and move with great rapidity. They are often seen in com- 

 panies, soaring at an immense height, particularly previous to a thunder-storm. Their wings are 

 not spread horizontally, but form a slight angle with the body upward, the tips having an upward 

 curve. Their sight is astonishingly acute, and they never fail to discover carrion, even when at 

 the distance of several miles from it. When once they have found a carcass, if not molested they 

 will not leave the place until the whole is devoured. At such times they eat so immoderately 

 that frequently they are incapable of rising, and may be caught without much difficulty ; but few 

 that are acquainted with them will have the temerity to undertake the task. A man in the state 

 of Delaware, a few years since, observing some turkey-buzzards regaling themselves upon the car- 

 cass of a horse which was in a highly putrid state, conceived the design of making a captive of 

 one, to take home for the amusement of his children. He cautiously approached, and, springing 

 upon the unsuspicious group, grasped a fine, plump fellow in his arms, and was bearing off his 

 prize in triumph, when lo ! the indignant vulture disgorged such a torrent of filth in the face of 

 our hero, that it produced all the effects of the most powerful emetic, and forever cured him of 

 his inclination for turkey-buzzards. 



"The vulture," adds Wilson, from whom we have chiefly taken the preceding account, "is in- 

 cluded in the catalogue of those fowls declared unclean and an abomination by the Levitical law, 

 and which the Israelites were interdicted eating. We presume that this prohibition was relig 



