Secretary-Bird 209 



by the legs as they settle. Still another way is to place a carcase in a fairly deep 

 trench, from which the Condors are unable to take wing again." GOODFELLOW. 

 They nest in the high, inaccessible fastnesses of the Cordilleras, selecting a ledge 

 or shelf of rock, where, gathering together a few sticks or even on the bare rock, 

 they deposit their two eggs. These are white, unspotted, and nearly four inches 

 in length. The young when hatched are covered with a gray down, and require 

 more than a year before being able to fly, and seven years before attaining mature 

 plumage. 



King Vulture. The most brilliantly colored and striking of all is the King 

 Vulture (Gypagus papa), which is found more or less abundantly over the whole 

 of tropical America, except the West Indies, extending north into Mexico and 

 possibly reaching southern Arizona. It is from twenty-seven to thirty-four inches 

 in length and has a spread of wings of about six feet. The "ruff" about the neck 

 is lead-colored, the feathers white at base. The wings, wing-coverts, rump, upper 

 tail-coverts, and tail are black, the secondaries edged exteriorly with white, 

 while the remainder of the plumage is vinaceous-buff or cream-color above and 

 white beneath. The head and neck is described by Waterton as follows: "The 

 throat and back of the neck are of a fine lemon-color; both sides of the neck, 

 from the ears downward, of a rich scarlet ; beneath the corrugated part there is 

 a white spot. The crown of the head is scarlet, betwixt the lower mandible and 

 the eye, and close by the ear there is a part which has a very fine silvery blue 

 appearance. Just above the white spot a portion of the skin is blue and the rest 

 scarlet ; the skin which jets out behind the neck, and appears like an oblong car- 

 uncle, is blue in part and in part orange. The bill is orange and black, the 

 caruncles on the forehead orange, the cere orange, the orbits scarlet, and the 

 irides white." 



The King Vulture is a bird of the forests, being found in the deep swamps, 

 margins of stagnant marshes, and along the wooded banks of rivers, and is at 

 all times a rare bird. It feeds on carrion and other food, such as young animals, 

 after the manner of its larger relative. Much uncertainty appears to exist re- 

 garding its nesting habits. By some it is said to deposit the eggs in hollow trees 

 and by others to build a large nest in tall trees ; the eggs, however, appear to be 

 two, and are white and unspotted. 



THE SECRETARY-BIRD 



(Suborder Gypogerani) 



Beyond doubt the most remarkable, not to say anomalous, member of this 

 group is the so-called Secretary-Bird (Gypogeranus serpentarius] of South Africa. 

 It stands nearly four feet high, having very long but strong legs, and when seen 

 stalking about might be mistaken at a little distance for a Heron or Crane, but 

 a closer view discloses the unmistakable raptorial characters. It is light gray 

 in color, with white streaks on the sides of the head and throat, while the wings, 



