CLASS AVES: ORDER COLUMBiE. 



137 



Fig. SSI. 



in a semi-torpid state 

 during the digestion 

 of its over-gorged 

 meal. 



To this family be- 

 long the Califorma 

 Vulture (Psendogry- 

 phus calLfornianus), 

 the Black VuUme 

 (Catharista atrata\ 

 the Turkey Buzzard^' 

 (Ehynogryphus aura 

 of the warmer regions 

 of America, and the 

 Condor of the Andes. 

 The last is typical of 

 the family, and in 



size excels all except Sarcorhamplms gryphus. Condor. iV- 



the California Vulture. Its alar extent is about ten feet.* 

 It will frequently soar for half an hour without once flapping 

 its wings ; but how it is accomplished has not been satisfac- 

 torily explained. To man, the Condor is inofEensive, nor 

 does it often attack liTing prey. 



ORDER COLUMB.^E. 



General Characteristics. — The Pigeons f have the bill 

 shorter than the head, with the nostrils imbedded in soft 

 skin ; and the hind toe on a level with the others. Both 

 male and female disgorge into the mouths of the young a 

 milky substance, and, after a few days, macerated grain. 



Columbidae. — The Wild or Passenger Pigeon is common 

 to all parts of North America. It frequently collects in such 



* The exaggerated accounts of the earlier writers are to he accounted for hy the 

 fact that the Condor, when soaring at no great height from the ground, seems much 

 larger. 



t All the domestic varieties, now numhering nearly forty, are believed to have 

 sprung from the Rock Dove {Coiumba lima) of Europe and Asia. 



