THE KING VULTURE. 
15 
with force, and it appeared as if the extended wings formed the fulcrum on which the move- 
ments 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 move- 
ments of a paper kite. 
4 4 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 any 
apparent exertion, wheeling and gliding over mountain and river.” 
The Condor deposits its eggs, for it makes no nest whatever, upon a bare shelf of some 
lofty rock. The eggs are two in number, grayish- white in color, and are laid about November 
or December. When the young Condor is hatched it is nearly naked, but is furnished with 
a scanty covering of down, which in a short time becomes very plentiful, enveloping the body 
in a complete vestment of soft, black plumage. The deep black gray of the adult bird is not 
attained until a lapse of three years, the color of the plumage being a yellowish-brown. 
The California Condor (Pseudogryphus calif or nianus) nearly rivals in size the great 
South American Condor. Its length is from forty-live to fifty inches, and its wing extent 
from nine to ten feet. This is comparatively a new bird. Like many others, it has been 
brought to notice since the settlement of California. Though not at all uncommon, it is a rare 
bird in collections. It seems to be confined to the warmer portions of California. Dr. New- 
berry, of Columbia College, saw much of this bird while engaged in the geological survey of 
that region. He says: “ It was to me a pleasant portion of everyday’s experience in my 
march through Sacramento Yalley, to watch the graceful evolutions of this bird. In its colors 
the combination was a pleasing one, while its flight was easy and effortless beyond that of any 
other bird. Though a common bird in this region, I found it much more shy and difficult to 
shoot than its associate, the turkey buzzard.” 
This vulture possesses immense muscular powers. Dr. Heerman states that four of them 
dragged the body of a young grizzly bear, that weighed over an hundred pounds, the distance 
of two hundred yards. Their senses of smell and sight are very acute, especially the latter ; 
and when searching for prey they soar to an immense height. If they chance to see a wounded 
animal, they chase it until it sinks with exhaustion, when they commence to feed even before 
life is extinct. 
Their flight is slow, steady, and exceedingly graceful ; they glide along with little or no 
perceptible motion of the wings, the tips of which are curved upwards in flying, like those of 
the turkey buzzard. The nest is of a few loose sticks, generally in the crevice of a rock. 
Observers of reliability assert that they sight their prey while soaring at considerable height. 
The Kino Vulture has gained its regal title from a supposition which is prevalent 
among the natives of the country which it inhabits, that it wields royal sway over the aura, 
or zopilote Vultures, and that the latter birds will not venture to touch a dead carcase until 
the King V ulture has taken his share. There is some truth for this supposition, for the King 
Vulture will not permit any other bird to begin its meal until his own hunger is satisfied. 
The same habit may be seen in many other creatures, the more powerful lording it over the 
weaker, and leaving them only the remains of the, feast instead of permitting them to partake 
of it on equal terms. But if the King Vulture should not happen to be present when the dead 
animal has reached a state of decomposition which renders it palatable to vulturine tastes, the 
subject Vultures would pay but little regard to the privileges of their absent monarch, and 
would leave him but a slight prospect of getting a meal on the remains of the feast. 
Waterton, who often mentions this species in his interesting works, gives several curious 
instances of the sway which the King Vulture exercises over the inferior birds. “ When I had 
done with the carcase of the large snake, it was conveyed into the forest, as I expected that it 
