TURKEY VULTURE. ay) 
weather; but numbers remain all the winter in Maryland, 
Delaware, and New Jersey, particularly in the vicinity of the 
have been described as natives of this continent, Sarcoramphus gryphus 
and Californianus of Dumeril, and the Cathartes papa of Illiger; the 
former supposed to be the celebrated Roc of Sinbad, the no less noted 
condor of moderns. They are found on the north-west chain of the 
Andes, frequenting, and not indeed generally met with until near, the 
limits of eternal snow, where they may be seen perched on the summit 
of a projecting rock, or sweeping round on the approach of an intruder, 
in expectation of prey, and looking, when opposed to a clear sky, of 
double magnitude. 
Moving athwart the evening sky, 
Seem forms of giant height. 
The stories of their destructive propensities are, to a certain extent, 
unfounded. No instance is recorded by any late travellers of children 
being carried off, and all their inquiries proved the reverse. It is a 
much followed occupation by the peasantry at the base of the Andes to 
ascend in search of ice for the luxury of the towns, and their children, 
at a very tender age, carried with them, are frequently left at con- 
siderable distances unprotected ; they always remain in security. The 
S. Calvfornianus was first known from a specimen in the British Museum, 
brought from California. Mr Douglas found it more lately in the woody 
districts of that country ; and I have transcribed his interesting account 
of its manners, &c. “ These gigantic birds, which represent the condor 
in the northern hemisphere, are common along the coast of California, 
but are never seen beyond the woody parts of the country. I have 
met with them as far to the north as 49° north lat. in the summer 
and autumn months, but nowhere so abundantly as in the Columbian 
valley, between the Grand Rapids and the sea, They build their nests 
in the most secret and impenetrable parts of the pine forests, invariably 
selecting the loftiest trees that overhang precipices, on the deepest and 
least accessible parts of the mountain valleys. The nest is large, com- 
posed of strong thorny twigs and grass, in every way similar to that of 
the eagle tribe, but more slovenly constructed. The same pair resort for 
several years to the same nest, bestowing little trouble or attention in 
repairing it. Eggs, two, nearly spherical, about the size of those of a 
goose, jet black. Period of incubation twenty-nine or thirty-one days, 
They hatch generally about the lst of June. The young are covered 
with thick whitish down, and are incapable of leaving the nest until 
the fifth or sixth week. Their food is carrion, dead fish, or other dead 
animal substance ; in no instance will they attack any living animal, 
unless it be wounded and unable to walk. Theirsenses of smelling and 
seeing are remarkably keen. In searching for prey, they soar to a very 
