C34 EAPTOEES, OE BIEDS OP PEET. 



These birds were once far more plentiful in Europe than 

 now. The reason of this is the great havoc wliiclL was made among 

 them in the last centurj'-. Even at the present day pursuit of 

 them is encouraged by the grant of a reward for each indi- 

 vidual killed. The number of eggs they lay being limited (two), 

 there is but little cause for surprise that the species is very 

 sensibly diminishing. 



In the birds which belong to the Sarcoramphus family tbe base 

 of the bill is furnished with a ring of long feathers, and the bill 

 itself is surmounted with a thick and scalloped fleshy crest; from 

 this peculiarity of organisation they derive their name, tbe signifi- 

 cation of SarcorampJms being " fiesby-billed." 



This genus comprises but two species, the Condor {Sarco- 

 rampJms gri/phus, Dumeril) and tbe King Yulture [Sarcoramphus 

 papa). 



The CoNnow (from the word Ciiriturjin the Peruvian language). 

 Fig. 301, commonly called the Gfreat Vulture of the Andes, is the 

 most remai'kable species of the Vulture family, both for its size and 

 ^^trengtli, and also for the vast extent of the stretcb of its wings. 

 Its plumage is of a dark blue, approaching to black; its collar, 

 which occupies only the back and sides of the neck, is formed of 

 a dazzling wbite down. Its crest, bevelled off at tbe edge, is 

 cartilaginous in its nature, and of a bluish colour, and extends clown 

 the side of the neck in two fleshy strings. Lastly, the male 

 has two fleshy appendages under the lower mandible, level with 

 tbe collar. The wings are as long as the tail, their whole develop- 

 ment being ten or twelve feet. The length of the bird from the 

 point of the bill to the tip of the tail is on an average about four 

 feet. 



The chief habitat of the Condor is the western slope of the chain 

 of the Andes, in Bolivia, Peru, and Chili ; it frequents all the 

 different altitudes, from the burning sands of the sea-coast to the 

 ice-bound solitudes of perpetual snow. Humboldt and Bonpland, 

 when exploring the Andes, repeatedlj' noticed Condors close round 

 them when at a height of 15,700 feet above the level of the sea. 

 D'Orbigny saw thein as hi;:;h up as the summit of Illimani, a 

 lieight of 24,ii00 feet ; and he likewise met with them on the coasts 

 of I'oru and Patagonia, seeking their food amonff the various 



