ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



887 



KING VULTURE 



and condor cages measures three by twelve 

 inches — so open that at a few yards distance 

 the wires become almost non-existant to the eye. 



As to house furnishings, the birds of prey are 

 well provided for. There are generous tanks of 

 clear fresh water for drinking and bathing, firm, 

 round perches of wood for the hawks and eagles, 

 flattened ones for the condors, at different 

 heights, carefully arranged in relation to each 

 other, in order to facilitate flight from the lower 

 to the higher ones, while at the same time inter- 

 fering as little as possible with the general fly- 

 ing area. Tall stubs of trees provide a variety 

 of perching places, and piles of boulders will 

 soon be furnished to those species which haunt 

 barren rock}- mountains. 



The need of this aviary may be appreciated 

 when it is stated that on the very first day of 

 installation every cage was filled with the 

 twenty-eight species of eagles, hawks and vul- 

 tures which have heretofore had their homes in 

 various odd cages of the bird collection. 



After life in their rather cramped quarters it 

 was good to see the birds — bald eagles, harpys. 

 condors, and all the others, stretch their wings 

 to the widest and flap easily up to the first 

 perches and then to the highest, twenty-one feet 

 above the ground. It took but a few minutes for 

 the birds to settle down and as most of them 

 were taken as fledglings from the nest, this new 

 allowance of liberty will meet their utmost de- 

 sires. 



Beneath the domes of the concrete skeletons, 

 low perches provide protection from rain and 

 storm for the birds which desire it. Access to 

 the cages is gained through sheet-iron doors at 

 the back of each shelter. These doors are well in 

 harmony with the general solidity of the struc- 

 ture and preclude all possibility of draught. 



The flooring has been given careful thought. 

 Unlike the conditions which obtain in the cages 

 of all other groups of birds, sand is a very un- 

 satisfactory flooring for birds of prey. It often 

 adheres to the moist food of these birds and 

 when swallowed becomes a menace to their 

 health, so coarse gravel has been used instead 

 and is proving a perfect substitute. The meat 

 and dead animal food such as rabbits, guinea 

 pigs and other rodents may be placed anywhere 

 upon the floor of the cage without danger of 

 becoming sandy and unwholesome. The gravel 

 may be cleansed with a hose in a few minutes 

 and the well-drained floor will leave the cage 

 sweet and clean. 



Although the very name of vulture stands for 

 noisomeness and ill odor, these birds prefer 

 fresh, untainted food, and in captivity will touch 

 none but the cleanest and best they can get ! As 

 a result, our vultures are free from disagreeable 

 odors, and their plumage is as clean as that of 

 a thrush. In amiability and good nature they 

 far excel their fierce and more dignified rela- 

 tions the hawks and eagles. The sanitary con- 

 ditions are as welcome to these erstwhile scaven- 

 gers as to any of the other inmates. 



The New World Vultures, forming the Order 

 Cathartidiformes, were described in Bulletins 

 No. 31 and No. 32, and only cursory mention 

 will be undertaken here. 



The Condor (Sarcorhamphus gryphus) of the 

 Andes, is becoming a very rare bird in captivity. 

 It is being slaughtered for its "quills," for 

 millinery purposes. Fortunately, it is most 

 tenacious of life, and our old male which arrived 

 on November 30, 1899, is still with us, after a 



SOUTH AMERICAN CONDOR 



