FALCONIFORMES 



accompanied by little movement of the pinions, as they circle over 

 the plains or mountain-sides in search of prey. In this quest 

 experiments have shewn that they are little guided by smell ; 

 rather does some individual, aided by its marvellously keen sight, 

 spy the carrion from afar, its motives being instantly divined by its 

 immediate neighbour ; a third bird is next attracted ; and so the 

 tidings spread, until a greedy crowd meets to dismember the car- 

 cass, to fight over the morsels, and then to sit stupid and gorged, 

 with drooping wings, on or near the ground. Except wh'en feed- 

 ing, the Cathartidae are non-gregarious, though "Turkey-Buzzards" 

 and " Black Vultures " roost in company ; the latter are said to 

 take to the wing with ease, eschewing the preliminary hops of 

 their allies ; while all walk well. The voice is a hoarse sound or 

 hiss, owing to the absence of syringeal muscles. The nest of sticks 

 is placed in trees, cavities of rocks, hollow stumps, or on the ground, 

 and may be bulky or of the slightest description ; the one or two eggs 

 are white, buff, or greenish, with or without reddish-brown and grey 

 blotches. The parents regurgitate food — at least occasionally — 

 for the nestlings, and eject foul-smelling matter when disturbed. 

 Sarcorhamphus gryphiis, the Condor, only equalled in size among 

 birds that fly by a few Old- World Vultures, and appearing still 

 larger in clear mountain air, ranges down western South America 

 and up to the Eio ]S!"egro on the east of Patagonia. The head and 

 neck are bare, with dull red skin, wrinkled in folds on the latter ; 

 while an oblique ruff of white down surmounts the black plumage, 

 which shews white edges to the wing-coverts and secondaries. The 

 male has a fleshy crest extending from the mid-cere to the crown, 

 a large wattle on the throat, and a small caruncle below ; the irides 

 being in that sex brown, in the female garnet-red. The bill is 

 white with brown base. Smaller and browner examples occur in 

 Ecuador, but larger appendages mark those of Chili and Patagonia. 

 In the southern portion of their range Condors are found down to 

 the sea-level, but Mr. E. Whymper ^ states that in Ecuador they 

 frequent the Andes up to sixteen thousand feet, and rarely descend 

 to the plains. Stupid and voracious, they can be lassoed while 

 feeding, and, though they will attack old horses, calves, lambs, 

 goats, deer, and dogs, especially when dazzled by the sun, they 

 seldom risk an assault on mankind. The nest, of a few sticks, is 

 placed on steep cliffs, and contains two white eggs. A young bird 



^ Travels amongst the Great Aiules of the Equator, 1891-92, pp. 200-205. 



