Habits of the Condok. 567 



cient to imprison it. Though a carrion bird, it breathes 

 the purest air, spending much of its time soaring three 

 miles above the sea. Humboldt saw one fly over Chim- 

 borazo. I have seen them sailing at least a thousand feet 

 above the crater of Pichincha.* 



Its gormandizing power has hardly been overstated. I 

 have known a single Condoi', not of the largest size, to 

 make way in one week with a calf, a sheep, and a dog. It 

 prefers carrion, but will sometimes attack live sheep, deer, 

 dogs, etc. The eye and tongue are favorite parts, and first 

 devoured ; next the intesthies. I never heard of one au- 

 thenticated case of its carrying off children, nor of its at- 

 tacking adults except in defense of its eggs. Yon Tschudi 

 says it can not can-y, when flying, a weight of over ten 

 pounds. In captivity, it will eat every thing except pork 

 and cooked meat. When full fed, it is exceedingly stupid, 

 and may be caught by the hand ; but at other times it is 

 a match for the stoutest man. It passes the greater part 

 of the day sleeping, more often searching for prey morn- 

 ing and evening than at noon ; very likely because objects 

 are then more distinctly seen. 



It is seldom shot (though it is not invulnerable, as once 

 thought), but is generally trapped or lassoed. Prescott, in 

 his Conquest of Peru, vol. i., p. 384, speaks of " the great 

 bird of the Andes, the loathsome condor, who, sailing high 

 above the clouds, followed with doleful cries in the track 

 of the army." But the only noise it makes is a hiss like 

 that of a goose. The usual trachial muscles are wanting. 



It lays two white , eggs, three or four inches long, on an 

 inaccessible ledge. It makes no nest proper, but places a 

 few sticks around the eggs. By no amount of bribery 

 could we tempt an Indian to search for Condors' eggs ; 



* One of the peaks of Pichincha is called in the Inca language Cuntur 

 guachana, or " Condor's nest." 



