ORDER ACCIPITRES. 19 



The Condor^ or Great Vulture of the Andes. ( Vvlt. Grt/phus, 

 Lin.) Humb. Obs. Zool. pi. vlii. and pi. col. t. 103. 



Blackish, with a spot on the wing, and the collar 

 white. The upper wattle, moreover, is large, and 

 not indented. The male has one on the beak, like 

 a cock; the female has none. When young, this 

 bird is of a yellow-brown colour^ and without collar. 

 It is the species rendered famous by the exaggerated 

 account given of its size ; but M. Humboldt states it 

 to be about as big as our Bearded Vulture, {V. bar- 

 batus,) to which the Condor is assimilated in manners. 

 It inhabits the highest mountains of the chain of the 

 Andes in'South America. 



Mr. Vigors has placed V. Califorianus, Shaw, in this 

 genus ; but we have observed a fine specimen recently 

 imported, which is without any wattle. 



The Percnoptera, {Cuvier.) Gypaetos, Bechstein. 

 Neophron, Savigny. Cathartes, llliger. 



Have the beak thin, long, swelling beyond its crook, 

 the nostrils oval, longitudinal, and the head only, but 

 not the neckj denuded. They are moderate-sized 

 birds, and not at all equal to the Vultures, properly 

 so called, in strength ; hence they are more addicted 

 to carrion and all sorts of filth, which attracts them 

 from far ; they do not even disdain to feed on excre- 

 ment. 



The name of Neophron has been restricted to the spe- 

 cies found in the old continent, which have the front 

 of the head only naked. 



C2 



