226 
ZOOLOGY. 
zophaps) solitarius, inhabited the island of RodnVuez, hav- 
ing been exterminated about the same date (1681). These 
were clumsy, defenceless birds, incapable of flight, and 
were destroyed by the domestic animals which accompanied 
the Portuguese voyagers to the Mascarene Islands. 
The wild pigeon {Edopistes migratorius) assembles in 
large flocks, chiefly in the Central States, but though for- 
merly excessively abundant it is now nearly exterminated, 
and is seen only in scattered small numbers. 
Order 8. Raptores (Raptorial birds). — The birds of prey 
{Raj^tores)i comprising the vultures, buzzards, falcons. 
hawks, eagles, and nocturnal owls, have a hooked and cered 
beak, i,e,^ with a waxy, dense membrane situated at the 
base of the upper mandible. The claws are large and sharp. 
The raptorial birds live either on birds and mammals, or 
fish, reptiles, batrachians, and insects. Of the vultures, 
the most notable for size is the condor of the Andes (Sar- 
corhampus grypliiiSy Fig. 267), which has great powers of 
flight, its wings expanding nearly three metres (nine feet). 
The carrion crow and turkey buzzard {Catliartes atratus 
and 0. aura) are useful as scavengers, especially the former, 
which is partly domesticated in southern cities and towns; 
they nest on the ground or in stumps, and are more or less 
Fig. 267.— Head of Condor. From Lutken's Zoology. 
