8 



ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



mountains for sale are constantly left sleeping in the 

 open air in the midst of these birds, and offer of course 

 a temptation which would be irresistible if not counter- 

 acted by some peculiar instinct. With respect to the 

 risk incurred by men, while he confesses that two of 

 these birds would be dangerous enemies for a single 

 man to encounter, he states that he has frequently 

 approached them within ten or twelve feet, as they sat 

 three or four together perched upon the rocks, and that 

 they showed no disposition to attack him. The Indians 

 of Quito, moreover, unanimously assured him that men 

 have nothing to apprehend from the Condors. 



When first taken captive they are sulky and timid ; 

 but the latter feeling soon wears off, and they become 

 savage and dangerous. After a time, however, they 

 seem to become reconciled to captivity, which they 

 bear tolerably well. The fine male figured at the head 

 of this article, which was purchased for the Society in 

 Holland, is as quiet and resigned as any of the other 

 birds of prey in the Collection, and appears to have 

 suffered little from his continued residence in a climate 

 so much more temperate than that from which he was 

 originally brought. 



