April, 1834. 



CONDOR. 



221 



degree, like the gallinazo, be considered a gregarious bird. In 

 this part of the country they live altogether on the guanacoes, 

 which either have died a natural death, or, as more com- 

 monly happens, have been killed by the pumas. I believe, 

 from what I saw in Patagonia, that they do not on ordinary 

 occasions extend their daily excursions to any great distance 

 from their regular sleeping-places. 



The condors may oftentimes be seen at a great height, 

 soaring over a certain spot in the most graceful spires and 

 circles. On some occasions I am sure that they do this for 

 sport, but on others, the Chileno countrymen tell you 

 that they are watching a dying animal, or the puma devour- 

 ing its prey. If the condors glide down, and then suddenly 

 all rise together, the Chileno knows that it is the puma 

 which, watching the carcass, has sprung out to drive away 

 the robbers. Besides feeding on carrion, the condors will fre- 

 quently attack young goats and lambs. Hence the shepherd 

 dogs are trained, the moment the enemy passes over, to run 

 out, and looking upwards, to bark violently. The Chilenos 

 destroy and catch numbers. Two methods are used ; one is 

 to place a carcass within an enclosure of sticks on a level 

 piece of ground, and when the condors are gorged, to 

 gallop up on horseback to the entrance, and thus enclose 

 them : for when this bird has not space to run, it cannot 

 give its body sufficient momentum to rise from the ground. 

 The second method is to mark the trees in which, frequently 

 to the number of five or six, they roost together, and then 

 at night to climb up and noose them. They are such heavy 

 sleepers, as I have myself witnessed, that this is not a 

 difficult task. At Valparaiso, I have seen a living condor 

 sold for sixpence, but the common price is eight or ten 

 shillings. One which I saw brought in, had been lashed 

 with rope, and was much injured ; yet, the moment the hne 

 was cut by which its bill was secured, although surrounded 

 by people, it began ravenously to tear a piece of carrion. 

 In a garden at the same place, between twenty and thirty 

 were kept alive. They were fed only once a week, but they 



