Birds. 1773 



the swiftness of lightning. When a bait is laid, it is curious to observe the number of 

 condors which assemble in a quarter of an hour, in a spot near which not one had 

 been previously visible. These birds possess the sense of sight and smell in a singu- 

 larly powerful degree. 



" Some old travellers, Ulloa among others, have affirmed that the plumage of the 

 condor is invulnerable to a musket-ball. This absurdity is scarcely worthy of contra- 

 diction ; but it is nevertheless true that the bird has a singular tenacity of life, and 

 that it is seldom killed by fire-arms, unless when shot in some vital part. Its 

 plumage, particularly on the wings, is very strong and thick. The natives, there- 

 fore, seldom attempt to shoot the condor : they usually catch him by traps, or by the 

 laso, or kill him by stones flung from slings, or by the bolas. A curious method of 

 capturing the condor alive is practised in the province of Abancay. A fresh cow- 

 hide, with some fragments of flesh adhering to it, is spread out on one of the level 

 heights, and an Indian provided with ropes creeps beneath it, whilst some others sta- 

 tion themselves in ambush near the spot, ready to assist him. Presently a condor, 

 attracted by the smell of the flesh, darts down upon the cowhide, and then the Indian 

 who is concealed under it seizes the bird by the legs, and binds them fast in the skin, 

 as if in a bag. The captured condor flaps his wings, and makes ineffectual attempts 

 to fly ; but he is speedily secured, and carried in triumph to the nearest village. 



" The Indians quote numerous instances of young children having been attacked 

 by condors. That those birds are sometimes extremely fierce is very certain. The fol- 

 lowing occurrence came within my own knowledge, whilst I was in Lima. I had a 

 condor, which, when he first came into my possession, was very young. To prevent his 

 escape, as soon as he was able to fly, he was fastened by the leg to a chain, to which 

 was attached a piece of iron of about six pounds weight. He had a large court to 

 range in, and he dragged the piece of iron about after him all day. When he was a 

 year and a half old he flew away with the chain and iron attached to his leg, and 

 perched on the spire of the church of Santo Tomas, whence he was scared away by the 

 carrion hawks. On alighting in the street, a negro attempted to catch him for the 

 purpose of bringing him home ; upon which he seized the poor creature by the ear, 

 and tore it completely off. He then attacked a child in the street (a negro boy of 

 three years old), threw him on the ground, and knocked him on the head so severely 

 with his beak, that the child died in consequence of the injuries. I hoped to have 

 brought this bird alive to Europe ; but, after being at sea two months on our home- 

 ward voyage, he died on board the ship in the latitude of Monte Video." — TschudVs 

 Travels in Peru. 



Occurrence of the Scops Eared Owl at the Stilly Islands. — I received yesterday 

 from Mr. James, the steward of the lord-proprietor of the Scilly Islands, a very good 

 specimen of the scops owl. It was reported to me to have been caught in the past 

 week on the grounds of Mr. Smith, the lord -proprietor in the island of Tresco, and I 

 should imagine that it must have been disabled from flying, by exhaustion, after hav- 

 ing performed a migratorial flight, as the bird does not exhibit any bodily injury. 

 The finding this bird at the present season of the year in such a locality, seems to con- 

 firm the supposition that this species visits Europe in the summer from Africa and the 

 warmer regions of the earth. Nothing can exceed the beautiful pencilled markings 

 of its plumage, quite equalling the night jar in the delicate tints of browns, and exhi- 

 biting a similar arrangement of them, as in that bird, only in corresponding minia- 

 ture. — Edward Hearle Rodd ; Penzance, April 13/A, 1847. 



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