CONDOR. 325 



flocks upon trees, where they may be seen perched for hours together, 

 sitting with their wings open as if ventilating their plumage. They 

 walk with the body inclined forward, the wings drooping, the tail brush- 

 ing the ground. When they wish to take flight, they are obliged to run 

 a few paces, and then contract the body violently. Their flight, though 

 slow, is protracted for a greater length of time than even perhaps that 

 of the Eagle, though more laborious and heavy. They elevate them- 

 selves to such wonderful heights, that as they describe circle after cir- 

 cle, they gradually appear no larger than a swallow, next a mere 

 speck is visible, then disappearing altogether from the limited power 

 of human wisdom. Not, however, beyond their own, for as they hover 

 over the country beneath, they can discover a carcass or carrion any- 

 where over a very wide district. In the East they are well known to fol- 

 low the caravans ; in Africa and South America they accompany and 

 wait upon the hunter's steps. If a beast is flayed and abandoned, call- 

 ing to each other with shrill but resounding voice, they pour down upon 

 the carcass, and in a short time, so dexterously do they manage the 

 operation, nothing remains but the naked skeleton. If the skin should 

 be left on the prey they discover, an entrance is soon made through 

 the belly, by which they extract all but the bones, which are left so well 

 covered by the skin as hardly to show that they have been at work there. 

 Should a sickly ox or smaller animal be accidentally exposed defence- 

 less, or from any cause unable to resist, the Vultures fall upon and de- 

 vour him without mercy in the same manner. Thus in the mountainous 

 districts of hot countries, in which they are very numerous, the hunter 

 who wishes to secure his game does not quit an animal he may have 

 killed, for fear of its immediately becoming their prey. Le Vaillant, 

 while in Africa, met with frequent losses through the rapacity of these 

 parasites, which, immediately notified by the calling of the Crows, 

 flocked around in multitudes, and speedily devoured large animals that 

 he had killed, depriving him not only of his own meal, but of many a 

 valuable specimen intended as a contribution to science. They may be 

 frequently seen tearing a carcass in company with dogs or other raven- 

 ous quadrupeds, such associations producing no quarrel, however lean 

 and hungry both may be. Harmony always subsists, so long as they 

 have plenty, among creatures of dispositions so congenial. But the 

 Eagle drives them to a distance till he is satisfied, and only permits 

 them to enjoy the fragments of the prey he has conquered. With 

 the same expectation of feeding upon the leavings, they attend upon 

 the ferocious quadrupeds of the Cat kind, and may thus indicate the 

 vicinity of these dangerous beasts. That it is cowardice which prevents 

 them from attacking animals capable of making any defence is evident. 

 The innate cruelty of their disposition is often manifested towards the 

 helpless. To a deserted lamb they show no mercy, and living serpents 



