18 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
black-clieeked, eagle ; the spoiled eagle ; the statenland 
eagle ; the Russian and equinoctial eagles, and the Mant- 
feury. Most of these take their names from their charac- 
teristic quality; and, indeed, minutely to describe them 
would greatly extend this volume, without adding much to 
tile entertainment of the reader. 
The Condor. Of all the birds which are endowed with 
the power of flight, the condor must be allowed universally to 
be the largest. It also possesses, in a higher degree than any 
of the feathered tribe, all the qualities that render it formi- 
dable, not only to animals of its own kind, but to beasts, 
and even to man himself. It is eighteen feet across the wings 
when extended. The beak is so strong as to pierce the body 
of a cow : and two of them are able to devour it. They do 
not even abstain from man himself ; but fortunately there are 
but few of the species. The Indians assert, that they will 
carry off a deer, or a young calf, in their talons, as eagles 
an hare or a rabbit. They seldom frequent the forests, as 
they require a large space for the display of their wings ; but 
are found on the sea-shore, and the banks of rivers, whither 
they descend, at certain seasons, from the heights of the 
mountains. Condamine has frequently seen them in several 
parts of the mountains of Quito, and observed them hovering 
over flocks of sheep ; and he thinks they would, at a certain 
time, have attempted to carry one off had they not been scared 
away by the shepherds. The condor is of a brown colour ; 
round the neck they have often a white ruff ; and on their 
head a brown comb, which however is not indented like the 
cock. It has by most naturalists been classed among the 
vultures, on account of its neck and head, which are bare of 
feathers; but if wejudjre by its natural habits, and internal 
qualities, we should rather place it among the eagles, whom 
it rivals in fierceness as well as in courage. 
It is doubted whether this animal be proper to America 
only, or whether it may not have been described by the na- 
turalists of other countries. It is supposed, that the great 
bird, called the roc, described by Arabian writers, and so 
much exaggerated by fable, is but a species of the condor. 
The great bird of Tarnassar, in the East Indies, which is 
larger than the eagle, as well as the vulture of Senegal, which 
carries off children, are probably no other than the bird we 
have been describing. Russia, Lapland, and even Switzerland 
and Germany, are said to have known this animal. In the 
deserts of Pachomac, where it is chiefly seen, men seldom 
venture to travel. Those wild regions are very sufficient of 
