CONDOR. 
21 
as it is reported, knocked down with clubs; and in any case we 
are at a loss to reconcile such persecutions with the protection so 
wisely granted them both by civilized and savage man. 
In captivity, the Condor is easily tamed if taken young, and 
does not refuse any kind of animal food whatever, nor do they 
appear to dread or suffer in the least from the extreme changes 
of the climate in Europe and the north-eastern parts of America. 
But it is almost impossible to keep the adults, which are always 
exceedingly wild and mischievous. They are incredibly tenacious 
of life : the bones are so hard as to resist a musket-ball, to which 
also the thick down of their plumage is impenetrable. They can 
resist strangulation for hours, even when hanged and hard pulled 
by the feet. A remarkable fact is that in domesticity they will 
not refuse water, drinking it in a very peculiar manner, by holding 
their lower mandible in it for some time, and using it as a spoon 
to throw the liquid into their throat. The individual represented 
in our plate was remarkable for playfulness and a kind of stupid 
good nature. During Mr. Lawson’s almost daily visits for the 
purpose of measuring and examining accurately every part for his 
engraving, he became so familiar and well acquainted that he 
would pull the paper out of the artist’s hands, or take the 
spectacles from his nose, so that Mr. Lawson, seduced by these 
blandishments, and forgetting its character in other respects, does 
not hesitate to declare the Condors the gentlest birds he ever 
had to deal with. 
VOL. iv .—f 
