Vultures.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



279 



may be beaten to death with sticks : but their as- 

 sailants run the hazard of being severely wounded 

 with the strong beaks of the birds, which even in 

 this state will defend themselves with the greatest 

 vigour." 



Kolbe's vulture is closely allied to the griffon- 

 vulture, which it closely resembles in colouring, but 

 is less in size. In Kolbe's vulture the feathers of 

 the wings of the lower parts are all rounded at the 

 end : in the griffon-vulture they are long and pointed. 

 In Kolbe's vulture the ruff is neither so long nor 

 so abundant as in the griffon; the plumage of the 

 adult is nearly of a whitish Isabella colour ; while 

 that of the adult griffon is of a uniform bright brown 

 throughout. 



1281. — Tub Indian Vulture 



(Vultur Indlcus). This vulture is common through- 

 out the whole of India. It is a voracious bird, and 

 may be seen lingering on the sea-shore, preying on 

 dead fish, and the putrescent exuviae of the wafers, 

 left by the waves on the beach. Flocks follow 

 armies, and multitudes assemble on the battle-field, 

 for " where the slain are, there are they." 



Head and neck destitute of feathers, all the upper 

 plumage yellowish ash-colour, varied with brown 

 and greyish white ; under parts yellow ; breast 

 covered with close clown of a brown tint ; bill black 

 lighter at the point ; naked skin of the head rusty 

 ash. Length forty-two inches. Colonel Sykes says 

 these birds " congregate in flocks of twenty or 

 thirty. On a dead camel or horse or bullock being 

 thrown out on the plain, numbers of these vultures 

 are found assembled round it in an incredibly short 

 time, though they may not have been seen in the 

 neighbourhood for weeks before." 



1282, 1283, 1284.— The Condor 



(Sarcoramphus Gryphus). The exaggerated ac- 

 counts of the earlier writers and naturalists, who 

 painted this bird as rivalling the Rukh of Oriental 

 fable, have given place to the moderate details of 

 sober-minded observers, and we no longer look upon 

 this vulture as the winged guardian of mountain- 

 mines, within whose depths were entombed "gems 

 and barbaric gold," the freightage of a thousand 

 royal argosies, treasures 



" which far 

 Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Tnil." 



We no longer imagine it the giant of the winded 

 race, dimming the light of the sun by its wide- 

 spread pinions, or, by their mighty rushing as it 

 sweeps down from some lofty pinnacle, or the upper 

 regions of the sky, deafening and stupifying the 

 terror-stricken beholders. 



To the scrutiny of the Baron Von Humboldt and 

 of M. Bonpland we owe the reduction of the bird to 

 its proper dimensions. Nestling in the most soli- 

 tary places, often upon the ridges of rocks, which 

 border the lower limit of perpetual snow, and 

 crowned with its extraordinary comb, the condor 

 for a long time appeared to the eyes of Humboldt 

 himself as a winded {riant, and he avows that it was 

 only the measurement of the dead bird that dissi- 

 pated this optical illusion. The grand scenery amid 

 which it is found had a precisely contrary effect on 

 Lieutenant Maw,* who in describing his descent 

 into the deep and narrow valley of Magdalena, says, 

 " whilst descending, several condors hovered round 

 us, and about the rocks on which they build their 

 nests r but so vast was the scale of the rocks and 

 mountains, that even these immense birds appeared 

 quite insignificant, and I doubted for a time that 

 they were condors " 



The condor, a native of the Andes of South Ame- 

 rica, is an example of the genus Sarcoramphus, 

 characterized by the fleshy carbuncles or comb-like 

 appendages at the base of the beak and the fore- 

 head, and the nakedness of the neck, and the size and 

 oval form of the nostrils, placed on the anterior edge 

 of the cere: the third quill-feather is the longest. 

 This genus is peculiar to the New World, and con- 

 tains, besides the condor, the King-vulture and the 

 Californian vulture. 



The elevation chosen by the condor as its breed- 

 ing-place and habitual residence varies from ten 

 thousand feet to fifteen thousand above the level of 

 the sea; and here, on some isolated pinnacle or 

 jutting ledge, it rears its brood and looks down 

 upon the plains below for food. It is generally 

 seen singly or in pairs — seldom in large companies ; 

 though among the basaltic cliffs of the St. Cruz 

 Mr. Darwin found a spot where scores usually 

 haunt. "On coming," he says, "to the brow of 

 the precipice, it was a fine sight to see between 

 twenty and thirty of these great birds start heavily 

 from their resting: places, and wheel away in ma- 

 jestic circles." It appears that many clusters of 

 rocks or high precipitous crags are named after 

 these birds ;'the appellations, in the language, of the 



• 'Journal of a Passage from the Taciiic to the Atlantic," by II. L. 

 Maw, Lieut. Ii. N 



fncas, meaning the " Condor's look-out'," the "Con- 

 dor's roost," the " Condor's nest," &c. 



High over the loftiest pinnacles may the condor 

 often be seen soaring, borne up on outspread wings, 

 describing in its flight the most graceful spires 

 and circles. " Except when rising from the ground," 

 says Mr. Darwin, "I do not recollect ever having 

 seen one of these birds flap its wings. Near Lima 

 I watched several for nearly half an hour without 

 once taking off my eyes. They moved in large 

 curves, sweeping in circles, descending and ascend- 

 ing without once flapping. As they glided close 

 over my head, I intently watched from an oblique 

 position the outlines of the separate and terminal 

 feathers of the wing ; if there had been the least 

 vibratory movement, these would have blended 

 together ; but they were seen distinct against the 

 blue sky. The head and neck were moved fre- 

 quently, and apparently with force ; and it appeared 

 as if the extended wings formed the fulcrum on 

 which the movements of the neck, body, and tail 

 acted. If the bird wished to descend, the wings 

 were for a moment collapsed ; and then, when 

 again expanded with an altered inclination, the 

 momentum gained by the rapid descent seemed to 

 urge the bird upwards with the even and steady 

 movement of a paper kite. In case of any bird 

 soaring, its motion must be sufficiently rapid so that 

 the action of the inclined surface of its body on the 

 atmosphere may counterbalance its gravity. The 

 force to keep up the momentum of a body moving 

 in a horizontal plane in that fluid (in which there is 

 so little friction) cannot be great, and this force is 

 all that is wanted. The movement of the neck and 

 body of the condor we must suppose sufficient for 

 this. However this may be, it is truly wonderful 

 and beautiful to see so great a bird hour after hour, 

 without anyapparent exertion, wheeling and gliding 

 over mountain and river." 



The condor feeds, like other vultures, on carrion, 

 dead llamas, mules, sheep, &c. When gorged with 

 food they sit sullen and drowsy on the rocks, and, 

 as Humboldt says, will suffer themselves to be 

 driven before the hunters rather than take wing ; 

 but he adds that he has seen them when on the 

 look-out. for prey, especially on serene days, soaring 

 at a prodigious height, as if for the purpose of com- 

 manding the most extensive view. The same writer 

 states that he never heard of any well authenticated 

 instance of these birds commencing an attack on 

 man, or of their carrying away children (according 

 to vague report) ; that he often approached within 

 a few feet, of them as they sat on the rocks, but 

 they never manifested any disposition to assault 

 him: and the Indians at Quito assured him that 

 men have nothing to fear from them. This scarcely 

 applies to other animals. " Besides feeding on car- 

 rion," says Mr. Darwin, " the condors will frequently 

 attack young goats and lambs. Hence the shep- 

 herd-dogs are trained, the moment the enemy 

 passes over, to run out, and, looking upwards, to bark 

 violently." Two of them will sometimes attack the 

 vicugna, the llama, the heifer, and even the puma, 

 persecuting the quadruped till it. falls beneath the 

 wounds inflicted by the beaks of its assailants. The 

 condor is indeed amazingly strong, and extremely 

 tenacious of life. Sir Francis relates the account 

 of a struggle between one of his Cornish miners 

 and a condor gorged with food, and therefore not 

 in the best state for the fray ; the man began by 

 grasping the bird round the neck, which he tried 

 to break; but the bird, roused by the unceremo- 

 nious attack, struggled so violently as to defeat the 

 plan : nor after an hour's struggling, though the 

 miner brought away several of the wing-feathers in 

 token of victory, does it appear that the bird was 

 despatched. 



According to Mr. Darwin (and Humboldt states 

 the same), " the condor makes no sort of nest, but 

 in the month of November and December lays two 

 large white eggs on a shelf of bare rock. On the 

 Patagonian coast. I could not see any sort of nest 

 among the cliffs where the young were standing. 

 It is said the young condors cannot fly for an entire 

 year. At Concepcion, on the fifth of March (cor- 

 responding to our September), I saw a young bird, 

 which, though in size little inferior to an old one, 

 was completely covered with clown like that of a 

 gosling, but of a blackish colour. After the period 

 when the young condors can fly, and apparently as 

 well as the old birds, they yet remain at night on 

 the same ledge and hunting by day with their 

 parents. Before, however, the young bird has the 

 ruff turned white, it may be often seen hunting by 

 itself." Mr. Darwin considers it probable that the 

 condor breeds only once in two years. 



At the age of two years the condor is not yet 

 black, but of a yellowish brown ; and up to this 

 time the female has no appearance of a ruff: 

 hence, ignorant of the change in the plumage of 

 this bird, many travellers talk of two species of 

 condor. 



The feathers of the condor are so close and firm, 



and overlap each other so regularly, as to throw off 

 a bullet, unless it. hits point blank. The general 

 colour of the adult male is glossy black, with a 

 tinge of grey. The greater wing-coverts, except at 

 the base and tips, and the secondary quill -feathers, 

 are white ; and a white ruff of downy feathers en- 

 circles the base of the neck. This part, as well as 

 the head, is bare, the skin being coarse and wrinkled, 

 and of a dull reddish colour, with a tinge of purple. 

 A large firm comb surmounts the forehead, and the 

 skin at the back of the head folds into irregular 

 wrinkles, converging into a sort of loose wattle be- 

 neath the bill,' which, as in the turkey, is capable of 

 being dilated at pleasure. The tail is broad and 

 somewhat wedge-shaped. Length about four feet ; 

 expanse of wing about nine feet. ; tarsi powerful. 

 The female wants the comb, and the greater wing- 

 coverts are blackish grey. 



The condor is captured by the lasso, or taken in 

 various traps and stratagems. According to Mr. 

 Darwin, the Chilenos are in the habit of marking 

 the trees in which they roost, frequently to the 

 number of five or six together, and then at night 

 climb up and noose them. They are such heavy 

 sleepers, he adds, as I myself witnessed, that this is 

 not a difficult task. Lieutenant Maw saw the condor's 

 quill used as a pen in the Cordillera (Toulea). 



1285, 1286.— Tins King- Vulture 



(Sarcoramphus Papa). This beautiful species is a 

 native of the intertropical regions of America, and 

 is seen occasionally in Florida, probably its most 

 northern limit. It is not, like the condor, a moun- 

 tain bird, but tenants the low humid forests bor- 

 dering rivers and savannahs, where animal life is 

 abundant, and where decomposition rapidly succeeds 

 death. It is amidst the most luxuriant scenery 

 that this monarch of the vultures reigns ; the turkey- 

 buzzard and gallinazo being in subjection under 

 him. Waterton in his amusing work relates, that 

 while sailing up Essequibo, he observed a pair 

 of king-vultures sitting on the naked branch of a 

 tree, with about, a dozen of the common species* 

 waiting to begin the feast upon a goat, killed by a. 

 jaguar, but which he had been forced to abandon. 

 The pair seemed rather to tolerate the presence of 

 the rest, than to associate with them on terms of 

 familiarity. The same traveller, having killed a. 

 large serpent, caused it to be carried into the forest 

 as a lure for one of these vultures which he wished 

 to obtain. He watched the result. " The foliage," 

 he says, " where he laid the snake was impervious 

 to the sun's rays ; and had any vultures passed over 

 that part of the forest, I think I may say with safety, 

 that they would not have seen the body through the 

 shade. For the first two days not a vulture made its. 

 appearance at the spot, though I could see a Vulture 

 aura gliding on apparently immovable pinions 

 at a moderate height over the tops of the forest 

 trees. But during the afternoon of the same day, 

 when the carcass of the serpent had got into a state 

 of putrefaction, more than twenty of the common 

 vultures came and perched upon the neighbouring 

 trees, and the next morning, a little before six 

 o'clock, I saw a magnificent King of the Vultures. 

 There was a stupendous mora-tree close by, whose 

 topmost branches had either been dried by time or 

 blasted by the thunder-storm. Upon this branch I 

 killed the King of the Vultures before it had de- 

 scended to partake of the savoury food which had 

 attracted it to the place. Soon after this another 

 King of the Vultures came, and after he had stuffed 

 himself almost to suffocation, the rest pounced down 

 upon the remains of the serpent, and stayed there till 

 they had devoured the last morsel." 



Ihough this species is mostly seen alone or in 

 pairs, travellers state that in Mexico it is sometimes 

 observed in flocks. The general account, that the 

 other vultures stand patiently by till their monarch 

 has finished his repast, and which appears to be not 

 without foundation, may be easily accounted for by 

 the superior strength and courage of this species. 



The colours of the king-vulture are very splendid. 

 The naked skin of the head and neck is deeply 

 tinged with mingled scarlet, orange, and violet : be- 

 neath the eye are several deep wrinkles converging 

 to a fold of skin extending obliquely downwards 

 along the neck. Over the cere of the beak hangs a 

 loose comb of bright orange; the circle round" the 

 eyes is scarlet, in singular contrast with the pearl 

 white of the iris ; the ruff round the bottom of the 

 neck is soft, downy, and of a delicate grey. The 

 general plumage is of a bright fawn-colour ; the quill- 

 feathers, the greater coverts, and tail-feathers glossy 

 black. Length about two feet and a half; expanse 

 of wings upwards of five feet. The young birds of 

 the year have a dull bluish plumage, and a violet 

 head and neck; in the second year their plumage 

 is dusky, marked with longitudinal white spots ; in 

 the third year the permanent colouring is nearly 

 assumed, and is completed on the subsequent change 

 of feathers. 



