OIUBNAL BIESS OF PEDT. 205 



CHAPTER IX. 



DIVISION I.— VERTEBRATES. 



CLASS II. — BIRDS. 

 ORDER I. — BIRDS OF PREY. 



These correspond, in many respects, with the camiTorous 

 animals among quadrupeds. They are distinguished by their 

 strong, hooked beaks, and their crooked and powerful talons, by 

 means of which they are enabled to prey upon other birds, and 

 even upon some of the smaller quadrupeds and reptiles. They 

 are divided into the diurnal and the nocturnal. The diurnal 

 include the vultures, eagles, falcons, hawks, buzzards, and kites. 

 The only nocturnal bird of prey is the owl: The vultures are 

 heavy and ferocious birds, feeding principally upon carrion. They 

 are so voracious, and fill themselves to such an extent, that they 

 become quite stupid and inactive, and during digestion a fetid 

 humor distils from their nostrils. The eagles, falcons, etc., prefer 

 living animals for their food, and never prey upon carrion, unless 

 driven to it by hunger. The number of their species is very 

 great, and they are observed to vary considerably in their plumage, 

 according to their age and other circumstances. The females are 

 generally a third part larger than the males, and are likewise 

 superior in beauty of shape and plumage. 



I. — DIURNAL BIRDS OP PREY. 



The Condor inhabits the Andes of South America, always 

 choosing its residence on the summit of a solitary rock. It ap- 

 pears that this bird does not build any nest, but lays its two white 

 eggs on the bare rock, after the manner of many sea birds. It is 

 a very large bird, but by no means the gigantic creature some 

 former naturalists relate, with wings twenty feet in length, and 

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