THE CONDOR. 6 



cipally in the large fleshy, or rather cartilaginous, 

 caruncle which surmounts their beaks ; in the large 

 size of their oval and longitudinal nostrils, placed 

 almost at the vei*y extremity of the cere ; and in the 

 comparative length of their quill-feathers, the third 

 being the longest of the series. The most important of 

 these differences, the size and position of their nostrils, 

 appears to be vv^ell calculated to add to the already 

 highly powerful sense of smell possessed by the typical 

 Vultures, and for which these birds have been almost 

 proverbially celebrated from the earliest ages. There is 

 also a third species, the Californian Vulture, two noble 

 specimens of which, the only pair in Europe, are pre- 

 served in the Society's Museum, rivalling the Condor 

 in bulk, and agreeing in every respect with the generic 

 characters of the group, except in the existence of the 

 caruncle, of which they are entirely destitute. 



In size the Condor is little, if at all, superior to the 

 Bearded Griffin, the Lammergeyer of the Alps, with 

 which Buftbn was disposed conjecturally to confound 

 it, but to which it bears at most but a distant relation. 

 The greatest authentic measurement scarcely carries 

 the extent of its wings beyond fourteen feet, and it 

 appears rarely to attain so gigantic a size. M. Hum- 

 boldt met with none that exceeded nine feet, and was 

 assured by many credible inhabitants of the province 

 of Quito that they had never shot any that measured 

 more than eleven. The length of a male specimen 

 somewhat less than nine feet in expanse was three feet 

 three inches from the tip of the beak to the extremity 

 of the tail ; and its height, when perching, with the 

 neck partly v^^ithdrawn, two feet eight inches. Its 

 beak was two inches and three quarters in length, and 

 an inch and a quarter in depth when closed. 



The beak of the Condor is straight at the base, but 



B 2 



