THE CONDOR. 
23 
length falls prostrate to the earth and slowly expires. The 
Condor then gorges himself; and rests in stupidity, and 
almost gluttonous inebriation, perched upon the highest 
neighbouring rocks. The formidable hunter, now loaded with 
his meal, may be driven about without his attempting to 
fly ; and in this state the Indians sometimes pursue them 
with the lasso or noose, and easily take them captive. Thus 
restrained, the Condor makes extraordinary efforts to rise 
into the air ; but fatigued by the attempt, he begins to 
disgorge himself- freely, an effort he appears to assist by 
lengthening and shortening the neck, and bringing forward 
the sheath of his beak. They will approach dwellings when 
allured by the scent of food ; and a dead animal will draw 
down a crowd of these gluttons, where none at the time are 
at all visible ; they tear and eat with the greatest voracity, 
pushing sometimes with their feet, and flapping their 
wings. 
They make no nest, but deposit their eggs upon the naked 
rock ; these are two, wholly white, and three or four inches 
in length. It is said that the female remains with her 
young for the space of a year. The young Condor has no 
feathers. His body, for several months, is covered only 
with a very fine down or whitish frizzled hair, which 
resembles that of young owls. This down disfigures the 
young bird so much, that in this state it appears almost as 
large as an adult. 
The size of the Condor has been greatly exaggerated. It 
