Mr. J. Orton on fJie Corulors of the Equatorial Andes. 187 



also seen old condors with carbuncles on the head (which 

 are said to come from age alone), and black ])caks, and the 

 body brown or ash-coloured all over." Bonaparte, in his 

 ' American Ornithology/ gives a careful drawing of a young- 

 male, with a crest and with white patches on its wings — 

 both features wanting in the brown. Lieutenant Gilliss de- 

 clares, as the result of his observations on the Chilian Andes, 

 that the brown kind is a different species. Further proof is 

 wanted; but it is quite probable that another species must be 

 added to the genus Sarcoramphus. 



The ordinary habitat of the royal condor is between the 

 altitudes of 10,000 and 16,000 feet. The largest seem to 

 make their home around the volcano of Oayambi, which stands 

 exactly on the equator. In the rainy season they frequently 

 descend to the coast, where they may be seen roosting on trees ; 

 on the mountains they very rarely perch (for which their feet 

 are poorly litted), but stand on rocks. They are most com- 

 monly seen around vertical cliffs, where their nests are and 

 where cattle are most likely to fall. Great numbers frequent 

 Antisana, where there is a great cattle-estate. Flocks are 

 never seen except around a large carcass. It is often seen 

 singly, soaring at a great height in vast circles. Its flight is 

 slow and majestic. Its head is constantly in motion as if in 

 search of food below ; its mouth is kept open and its tail 

 spread. To rise from the ground, it must needs run for some 

 distance, then it flaps its wings three or four times and ascends 

 at a low angle till it reaches a considerable elevation, when it 

 seems to make a few leisurely strokes, as if to ease its wings, 

 after which it literally sails upon the air. In walking, the 

 wings trail on the ground, and the head takes a crouching 

 ])Osition. It has a very awkward, almost painful gait. From 

 its inability to rise without running, a narrow pen is sufficient 

 to imprison it. Though a carrion-bird, it breathes the purest 

 air, spending much of its time soaring three miles above the 

 sea. Humboldt saw one fly over Chimborazo. We have 

 seen them sailing at least a thousand feet above the crater of 

 Pichincha*. 



Its gormandizing power has hardly been overstated. We 

 have known a single condor, not of the largest size, to make 

 away in one Aveek with a calf, a sheep, and a dog. It prefers 

 carrion, but will sometimes attack live sheep, deer, dogs, &c. 

 The eye and tongue are favourite parts and first devoured, 

 next the intestines. We never heard of one authenticated 

 case of its carrying off children, nor of its attacking adults 



* One of the peaks of Pichincha is called in the Inca language cuntur 

 ffuachami, or " condor's nest." 



