AMERICAN VULTURES. 



267 



of their ordinary range cannot be more than sixteen thousand feet ; while in the 

 same district they do not appear to descend below some nine thousand feet. 

 Since, however, condors in Patagonia are commonly seen at the sea-level, it 

 is probable that there is an 

 upland and a lowland race, 

 and that the same birds do 



not range from the level of 

 the sea to elevations of six- 

 teen thousand feet. In re- 

 gard to their habits when 

 on the wing, Mr. Whymper 

 writes that "on the few 

 occasions upon which we 

 were approached by condors 

 in a menacing manner, we 

 became aware of their pre- 

 sence from their shadows 

 being cast upon us by a 



nearly vertical sun. They never came near when the sun was concealed, and 

 if they hovered in our neighbourhood they always kept the sun at their backs. 

 This cannot be their invariable habit in a country where the sun is so often in- 

 visible, though possibly it is adopted whenever there is a chance, and the motive 

 is obvious. The objects to be attacked are dazzled by the sun's rays, while the 





CONDORS FLOCKING TO A DEAD GUANACO. 



