ORDER ACCIPITRES. 



181 



in the sequel he rectified this error. The condor is not known 

 in the elevated mountains on the coast of Venezuela, nor in 

 the chain of Dorado, nor in Brazil. The Ouira-Ouassa of the 

 Brazilians, which BufFon conceived to be synonymous with the 

 condor, is a very different bird, although, as the stor^' goes, it 

 is large enough to devour apes, and even attack men. It is, 

 perhaps, doubtful whether the condor is extended over the 

 entire chain of the Andes to the most southern extremity of 

 the New Continent. In the account of Cordoba's voyage to 

 the Straits of Magellan, the only case in which men of educa- 

 tion made any stay in that quarter, among the animals observed 

 in Terra del Fuego, and on the coasts of Cape Victoria, are 

 mentioned colibris, American ostriches, guanacos, and wild dogs ; 

 but there is not a word about the condor. It is, however, cer- 

 tain that it exists there ; for the condor described by Dr. Shaw 

 Was killed at the Straits of Magellan. It was brought into 

 Europe by Captain Middleton on his return from the South 

 Seas. Although the figure of this bird from the Leverian 

 Museum is not much like Humboldt's, yet this writer is of 

 opinion that it was the true male condor, and not a different 

 species or variety. Dr. Shaw, whose description is very exact, 

 thus characterises it : " Saccum in gula, seu pellis qucBdam 

 dilatata a basi mandibultE inferioris longe per collum ducta. 

 Prodeunt etiam a latere colli appendicula septem quasi carnece, 

 seu carunculce, semi-circulares et coerulescentes. Collum et 

 pectus nuda et rubentia, pi/is raris nigricantibus aspersa. 

 Crista capitis sinuata, altera ad nucham, amb.e nigri- 

 CANTES, c.fiRULE^, et nonnulUs in locis rubentes. A collo 

 inferno dependet tuberculum pyriforme. Dorsum atrum, 

 remiges alba secundarice, cauda atra, pedes albi." The two 

 crests, the white feet, and the white secondaries, might cer- 

 tainly lead us to believe that the bird of Dr. Shaw differed from 

 the true condor. But these differences may result from the 

 animal not having been described in a living state, or well pre- 

 served. The other vulture, from the Leverian Museum, would 



