194 S. CRUZ, PATAGONIA chap. 



extend their daily excursions to any great distance from their 

 regular sleeping-places. 



The condors may oftentimes be seen at a great height, 

 soaring over a certain spot in the most graceful circles. On 

 some occasions I am sure that they do this only for pleasure, 

 but on others, the Chileno countryman tells you that they are 

 watching a dying animal, or the puma devouring its prey. If 

 the condors glide down, and then suddenly all rise together, the 

 Chileno knows that it is the puma which, watching the carcass, 

 has sprung out to drive away the robbers. Besides feeding on 

 carrion, the condors frequently attack young goats and lambs ; 

 and the shepherd-dogs are trained, whenever they pass over, to 

 run out, and looking upwards to bark violently. The Chilenos 

 destroy and catch numbers. Two methods are used ; one is to 

 place a carcass on a level piece of ground within an enclosure 

 of sticks with an opening, and when the condors are gorged, to 

 gallop up on horseback to the entrance, and thus enclose them : 

 for when this bird has not space to run, it cannot give its body 

 sufficient momentum to rise from the ground. The second 

 method is to mark the trees in which, frequently to the number 

 of five or six together, they roost, and then at night to climb 

 up and noose them. They are such heavy sleepers, as I have 

 myself witnessed, that this is not a difficult task. At Valparaiso 

 I have seen a living condor sold for sixpence, but the common 

 price is eight or ten shillings. One which I saw brought in, 

 had been tied with rope, and was much injured ; yet, the 

 moment the line was cut by which its bill was secured, although 

 surrounded by people, it began ravenously to tear a piece of 

 carrion. In a garden at the same place, between twenty and 

 thirty were kept alive. They were fed only once a week, but 

 they appeared in pretty good health.-^ The Chileno country- 

 men assert that the condor will live, and retain its vigour, 

 between five and six weeks without eating : I cannot answer 

 for the truth of this, but it is a cruel experiment, which very 

 likely has been tried. 



When an animal is killed in the country, it is well known 

 that the condors, like other carrion-vultures, soon gain intelligence 



^ I noticed that several hours before any one of the condors died, all the lice, 

 with which it was infested, crawled to the outside feathers. I was assured that 

 this always happened. 



