172 CLASS AVES. 



out foundation, that this collar is Avanting in the female. In 

 both sexes, the hood is not entire ; it does not close exactly in 

 front, and the neck is naked as far as the place where the black 

 feathers commence. It is necessary, however, to look very close 

 to perceive that the down of the collar is interrupted towards the 

 breast ; for the naked band is very slender. Molina tells us, 

 that the female has a small tuft of white feathers on the nape 

 of the neck ; but M. de Humboldt met with nothing of the sort 

 in all the numerous specimens which he saw in the Andes. 



The rest of the bird, back, wings and tail, are of a black 

 slightly grayish. It is false, that the back of the male is white, 

 as many naturalists have pretended ; and among the rest, the 

 Abb^ Molina. It appears so, when the bird is seen hovering 

 below you ; but this is occasioned by the reflection thrown by 

 the wing-coverts, which form a white spot. The plumes of the 

 condor are sometimes of a brilliant black ; most frequently, 

 however, this black borders on a gray. They are of a triangular 

 figure, and coA^er each other mutually, like tiles. 



The primores of the wings are black ; the secondaries, in the 

 male and female, have the exterior edges white ; the difference 

 of sex is much more visible in the tectrices. In the female, 

 these quills, which cover the remiges, are of a grayish black ; 

 but in the male condor (and this character is strongly marked) 

 the points, and even one half of the quills are white, so that the 

 wing of the male appears adorned with a beautiful white spot. 

 The tail is cuneiform, rather short and blackish, in both sexes. 



The feet are very robust, and of an ashen blue, ornamented 

 with white wrinkles ; the talons are of a blackish colour ; they 

 are not much crooked, but remarkably long. The four toes 

 are united by a very flaccid, but very perceptible membrane. 

 The fourth toe is very small, and its talon is most curved. 



The dimensions of a female condor, killed at the volcano of 

 Pichincha, were as follow : (the measures are French) : — 



Length of tlie female from the point of the beak to the end uf the tail, 

 3 feet 2 inches. 



