Heads and Necks 271 
the whole beak, in fact every part of the head except the 
eves, is buried in a maze of soft, orange plumes. 
As the antithesis to this condition, we find many 
birds which have the head partly or entirely bare of 
feathers, such as the vultures and some of the waders. 
In the former group this lack of feathers is doubtless 
Fie. 213.—Head of male Condor 
of value in enabling the birds to avoid soiling their plu- 
mage, when engaged in their scavenger work. The great 
Condor of South America has, just below this naked area, 
a necklace of the whitest of fluffy down, and in addition 
the male has a large wattle of skin upon the front of the 
head. The Caracara of Mexico is partly vulturine in its 
habits, and the feathers have disappeared from part of 
e 
its face. Wherever the skin of the head and neck is even 
