CONDOR. 
5 
tolerably correct description of both sexes, with a figure of the 
adult male, and taken also from the identical specimens, now at 
Vienna, and originally brought to England by Captain Middleton 
from the straits of Magellan, that furnished the subjects of 
Temminck’s plates. 
The adults of both sexes, and a young female, having been 
tolerably well represented, it is the young male that we have 
preferred to figure in this work, in order thus to complete the 
iconography of so interesting a species. And we trust that 
through the exertions of our artists, our figure, which is reduced 
three and a half times from nature, will be found for minuteness 
of accuracy much superior to all, owing to the extraordinary pains 
taken by Mr. Lawson, who besides being furnished with a 
correct drawing, made repeated visits to the living bird, carefully 
verifying its form and dimensions in all their details. 
The genus Vultur of Linne, now the family Vulturini , (or 
Fulturidx) a family first established by Dumeril under the appel¬ 
lation of Ptiloderes, or Nudicolles, though much less numerous 
as well as less intricate in the characters of the species than 
the Falconidse, of which we have treated under the head of 
Falco cooperii , has nevertheless much exercised the ingenuity of 
ornithologists, who nearly all disagree both as to its limits and 
its subdivisions. With respect to the former, those recognized 
by us will be clear and well defined, this family being constituted 
of the two modern genera Vultur and Cathartes, of Illiger, which 
we adopt with some modifications, as will be seen hei’eafter. 
Contrary to the general practice, we discard from it the aberrant 
genera forming the passage to other groups, in which we prefer 
arranging them. The groups towards which a direct passage is 
the most obvious are the family of Papaces, or Falconidx ; and 
some typical Gallinx and aberrant Waders. With neither the 
Passeres nor the webfooted orders, (unless it may be with the 
VOL. IV.-B 
