18 CONDOR. 
beyond the Rocky Mountains. It was not seen by Lewis and 
Clark until they had passed the great falls of the Columbia, and 
it is by no means common or numerous any where in the northern 
parts of America, those individuals that have been observed here 
appear to have been stragglers from their native country, which 
is no doubt South America. It might even be limited to the great 
chain of the Andes, especially their most elevated ranges, being 
plentiful in Quito, Peru, New Granada, and Antioquia, and much 
more rare where they are less lofty, the Condor inhabiting pretty 
nearly the same altitude with the Cinchona and other subalpine 
plants. It is moreover, according to the observations of Hum¬ 
boldt, the invariable companion of the Guanaco for an extent of 
nearly three thousand miles of coast, after which this animal is 
no longer seen, but the Condor continues to be met with much 
beyond this, as if quite indifferent to climate, or because it can 
regulate it by varying its elevation with the change of latitude. 
In the eastern or even southern United States a Condor has 
never been seen, though the King Vulture of South America has 
been occasionally observed. The chief abode of the Condor is 
indeed on the highest summits of the Andes, some of which are 
covered with perpetual snow, and is fixed by Humboldt at between 
three thousand one hundred and four thousand nine hundred 
metres. Every time, says he, that I have been herborizing near 
the limits of perpetual snow, we were sure to be surrounded by 
Condors. These mountains and the forests that clothe their 
sides are the Condor’s home, and from these their excursions are 
extended over the whole neighbourhood to the very sea, from 
which they may be often seen hovering at prodigious heights and 
describing vast circles, but always ready to lower themselves by 
degrees whenever they espy a chance of satisfying their voracious 
appetite. They are only known, however, to descend towards the 
seashore during the rainy season, corresponding to our winter. 
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