TH£ CONDOR. 507 



* Now haste to the dell of enchantment away /" 

 In vigour arose and exclaim'd the fresh day. 



the term Vulture in the text is designed emphatically to be ap- 

 plied, comprehends above thirty species scattered over the 

 warmer parts of the globe : some of which inhabit America, 

 some Asia, some Africa, and some other parts of the world, but 

 none of them is found in this country. They seem to be pe- 

 culiarly inhabitants of warm climates, Chiefly, it is presumed, 

 because putrid flesh, on which they feed, is there most plentiful. 



They are distinguished by a straight bill hooked at the point ; 

 the head is bare of feathers, with a naked skin in front; tongue 

 cleft ; neck retractile ; sense of smell generally acute. They 

 are a rapacious tribe, feeding on carcasses, however putrid : 

 unless pressed by hunger they seldom attack living animals. 

 Waterton, indeed, informs us, in his Wanderi?igs in South 

 America, that Vultures never live upon live animals ; that in 

 Paramaribo the laws protect them, and that in Angustura they 

 are as tame as domestic fowls. They are bold, gregarious, fly 

 slowly, unless very high in the air. The following are the chief: 



The Gryphus, Condor, Condur, or Zumbadore, is of prodi- 

 gious si2e, measuring, with the wings extended, it is said, four- 

 teen, sixteen, or even more, but other accounts say ten or 

 eleven, feet. Mr. Barrow wounded a Condor at the Cape of 

 Good Hope, whose wings, when spread, measured ten feet and 

 one inch. The bill is black, four inches long, point white ; 

 caruncle on the crown as long as the head ; the throat is naked, 

 the bottom of which is surrounded with a white ruff composed 

 of long fine feathers of a hairy texture ; the lesser wing coverts 

 wholly black, middle ones the same with greyish white ends, 

 forming a bar when closed ; the greater, half black and half 

 white, divided obliquely; three first quills black ; secondaries 

 white, tipped with black ; back black; tail black; legs stout, 

 reddish brown, and those as well as the claws, which are three 

 quarters of an inch long, are said to be covered with scales. 



