242 



The Comdor.- 



-BIRDS.- 



-The King Vulture. 



to ascend to a greater height in the air than any other 

 bhd. That traveller ascertained, by actual measure- 

 ment, that the height attained by one of these birds 

 must have been at least 23,000 feet above the level of 

 the sea ; and in the neighbourhood of Cotopaxi, at an 

 elevation of 14,471 feet, he observed a condor at such 

 an altitude, that it appeared as a mere black speck in 

 the sky. Even at the ascertained level, it is, as he 

 remarks, a singular physiological phenomenon, " that 

 the same bird which wheels for hours togetlier thi-ough 

 these highly rarefied regions (where the barometer 

 scarcely stands at 12-7 inches), should be able sud- 

 denly, as for mstanoe on the western declivity of 

 Pichinoha, to descend to the sea-shore, and thus in 

 the course of a few hours ti'averse, as it were, all 

 climates." 



In its habits the Condor appears closely to resemble 

 the Lammergeyer, unless its predilection for carrion 

 may be considered rather stronger. But it not only 

 feeds freely on the carcasses of dead animals, but also 

 destroys many lambs, calves, and yomig llamas, espe- 

 cially when just bom and in a perfectly helpless state. 

 For tliese purposes, the Condors, which usually live 

 shigly or hi pairs, congregate in small flocks; but there 

 appears to be no foundation for the stories of their 

 uniting to destroy full-grown cattle and llamas, any 

 more than theh attacking man or carrying off chil- 

 di'en m their talons. Of the latter crime, mdeed, the 

 stnicture of then- feet may prove them guiltless, for 

 the small development of the hmder toe must render 

 them quite mcapable of perpetrating any such enormity. 

 The accounts of their attacking men are equally desti- 

 tute of foundation. Humboldt learnt from the Indians 

 that tlie Condors are perfectly innocent of this ; and 

 he also states tliat he frequently approached within 

 ten or twelve yards of them, when sitting three or fom- 

 together upon the rocks, and that they never showed 

 the least disposition to attack hhn. Nevertheless, the 

 damage done by the Condors to the domesticated 

 animals of Peru and Chili is so considerable, that 

 the inhabitants regard them as among their most 

 formidable enemies, and miss no opportunity of de- 

 stroying them. For this purpose, they sometimes lay 

 tlie carcass of some large animal as a bait, and shoot 

 the Condors as they descend upon it to feed, or, wait- 

 ing until they have eaten their fill, ca])tm'e them with 

 the lasso. But more commonly the bait is laid down 

 m a space surromided by strong palisades, which, by 

 preventing the birds from taking the short nm, with 

 their whigs hah extended, necessary to enable tliem to 

 rise from the gi'omid in then gorged state, gives the 

 Indians tlie opportunity of despatching a great number 

 of them at once. 



The Condor makes no nest, but lays its eggs upon 

 tlie bare rocks, simply selecting a spot where there 

 are cavities large enough to receive the eggs, and pre- 

 vent them from being rolled down when the parent 

 descends upon or rises from them. The situations 

 cliosen by the Condors for this purpose are always 

 exceedingly inaccessible. The eggs are said to be two 

 in number, and the Indians describe them as of a white 

 colour, which is also that of a specimen fi'om Chili 

 deposited in the Museum at Paris by M. Claude Gay. 



M. D'Orbigny, from a fragment seen by him, supposes 

 tlie eggs to be spotted with reddish-brown. 



THE KING VULTURE {Sarcorhamphns Papa)— 

 Plate 1, fig 2. The Ivuig vulture, the only other 

 species of the genus Sorcorhamplms, is particularly 

 remarkable for the brilliant colours which adom the 

 naked skin of its head and neck. The comb which 

 surmounts the nostrils in the male, is of a brilliant 

 orange colour ; the face is blackish violet ; a scarlet 

 ring surrounds the eyes ; a patch of black down occu- 

 pies the back of the head, and from this a reddish- 

 brown fold of skin runs down on each side below tlie 

 eye. The upper part of the neck is bright red, and 

 this colom gradually fades into orange and yellow on 

 the lower parts. The frOl sm-rounding the base of the 

 neck is ashy-grey ; the plumage of the upper parts of 

 the body is of a delicate fawn colour, and that of the 

 lower surface white ; whilst the quill feathers of tlie 

 wings and tail are black. The contrast of these varied 

 colours renders this vulture one of the most beautiful 

 of the birds of prey, and forms a costume worthy of 

 the lung ot the vultures — a title which, however, 

 belongs to him by a better right than only the magni- 

 ficence of his clothing. 



This fine bird is an inhabitant of a great part of South 

 America ; but, unlike the condor, it is an inliabitant 

 rather of the vast plams and forests than of tlie 

 mountainous regions. It is most abmidant within the 

 tropics, but extends its range beyond these lines, being 

 fomid commonly not only in Guiana, Brazil, and Peru, 

 but also m Paraguay and Mexico, and occasionally 

 visiting Florida in search of food. It feeds upon 

 reptiles and carrion, and even upon ordure, and in 

 summer devours great quantities oi tlie fishes which 

 perish in consequence of the drying up of the shallow 

 lakes. Its visits to Florida are said to be generally 

 made after the herbage has been burnt upon the 

 prairies, where it feeds gi'eedily upon the half-roasted 

 snakes and other reptiles which have been unable to 

 escape from the flames. In its ordinary haunts, these 

 birds are fi'equently met with in considerable numbers 

 in the vicinity of the towns and villages, which are 

 also fi-equented by flocks of tmkey \ndtures, which 

 wiU form the subject of the next article. We are told 

 by all writers on the natural history of these regions, 

 that when a band of the latter bhds are squabbling 

 over their food after the ordinary \'ulturuie fashion, the 

 appearance of a single bhd of this species is sufficient 

 to disperse the whole assembly, who wait patiently 

 at a short distance until their king has satisfied his appe- 

 tite. This is confirmed by Humboldt. 



THE TURKEY VULTURE {Cathartcs aura), and the 

 URUBU {Calhartes foitms). — These two birds, which 

 are very neary allied, are known by tlie name of 

 GaUinazos in the Spanish colonies, where, as in all 

 the warmer parts of America, tliey are exceedmgly 

 abundant. They have a longer and more slender bill 

 than the condor. The head is destitute of canmcles, 

 and covered only with a naked, wrinkled skin; and the 

 nostrils are pierced in the sides of the cere. The 

 Turkey ^'ulture, also frequently called the Turkey 

 Buzzard, owes its denomination to the marked resem- 

 blance which it presents to a turkey, both m size and 



