where the bristles begin to appear is also indicated by an 
elevation. Eye full and rounded; iris blackish; membrane 
of the throat very dilatable; head and neck covered by a thick 
silky down of a brownish black colour, on the front more 
dark and bristly; general colour dark brown, each feather 
having a banded appearance, tipt with more or less of 
umber; quill and tail feathers black, with a gloss of blue. 
The number of tail-feathers is twelve, the closed wings not 
reaching beyond, though very nearly to the tip. Feet black ; 
acrotarsus beautifully colligate ; acrodactylus scutellated: the 
whole leg measures one foot in length, of which the tarsus is 
five and a quarter inches, and the middle toe and nail six, 
the nail being one and a half: lateral toes connected with 
the middle as far as the first jot by a membrane ; the inner, 
two and a half inches long without the nail, which is one and 
a half; the outer, with the nail, a quarter of an inch shorter ; 
hind toe articulated inside, bearing on the ground only with 
the point of the nail, an inch and a half long, the nail one 
inch more, and much incurved ; sole of the foot granulated ; 
fat part of the heel large and rough. The feet have been 
generally described as white or whitish, owing to their being 
commonly stained with the excrements, which the bird throws 
much forward, but they are in fact of a fine blue horn-colour 
when washed clean; and these birds seemed to be fond of 
washing themselves. 
The condor is diffused over the continent of South America 
from the Straits of Magellan, extending its range also to 
Mexico and California, and the western territory of the 
United States beyond the Rocky Mountains. It was not seen 
by Lewis and Clark until they had passed the great Falls of 
the Columbia, and it is by no means common or numerous 
anywhere in the northern parts of America; those individuals 
that have been observed here appear to have been stragglers 
from their native country, which is no doubt South America. 
It might even be limited to the great chain of the Andes, 
especially their most elevated ranges, being plentiful in Quito, 
Peru, New Granada, and Antioquia, and much more rare 
