Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/221

 CONDOR 217 seat of a bishopric, which was for some time filled by Bossuet. Dupleix and Salvandy were born there. CONDOR (sarcoramphus gryphus), a large bird of prey, belonging to the order raptor es, family vultwrida. In the genus sarcoramphus, which includes two species, both peculiar to the American continent, the bill is moderate, covered for about one third of its length with a soft cere, and arched to its strong and sharp tip ; the nostrils are large and exposed in the middle of the cere, and in the male furnished with a caruncle; the wings are long and pointed, with the third and fourth quills equal and the longest ; the tail is moderate and even at the end ; the tarsi are plumed below the knee, and covered with small reticulated scales ; the toes are moderate and united by a slight membrane ; the hind toe is the shortest and is weak ; the claws are strong and slightly curved ; the head, neck, and front of the breast are bare of feath- ers, and covered with a hard, dry, and wrinkled skin, with a few short, stiff, and dark- Condor (Sarcoramphus gryphus). colored hairs. On the summit of the head, in the male only, is a fleshy or cartilaginous crest, extending over the posterior part of the beak, and sloped anteriorly so as not to cover the nostrils ; this crest, unlike that of the gal- linaceous birds, is hard, with very few vessels, and incapable of inflation. The head is flat ; the beak whitish at the tip, and brownish at the base. The rough skin of the head and neck is formed into folds, somewhat as in the turkey, which may be swelled out at pleasure ; these wrinkles arise from the habit of con- tracting its neck within the collar. The naked neck is separated from the feathered body by a collar of fine and white silken down ; this collar is found in the adults of both sexes. The general color of the plumage is brownish black ; the primaries are black ; the seconda- ries are nearly half white, so that, in the males especially, the wing is adorned with a white spot, which has led some naturalists into the erroneous belief that the back is white, from the appearance of this color when the bird is hovering below the observer. The feathers are not so thick on the under surface of the body, but those of the thighs are long. The only noise it makes is a hiss like that of a goose. The most extravagant ideas prevailed concerning the size of the condor until the visit of Humboldt to South America. The average length of this bird, from the point of the beak to the end of the tail, is not more than 3 ft., and the spread of the wings from 9 to 10 ft. ; some individuals, from favorable cir- cumstances, may attain an extent of wings of 12 or 13 ft. A full-grown male from the most celebrated locality on the Andes, now in Vas- sar college, has a stretch of 9 ft. Humboldt never found one to measure over 9 ft., and the largest specimen seen by Darwin was 8 ft. from tip to tip. An old male in the zoological gardens of London measures 11 ft. The ex- aggerated accounts of its size have doubtless originated from the difficulty of accurate ob- servation in the solitary and almost inaccessible retreats which the condor prefers ; it is most frequently seen either perched upon a lofty mountain peak, or soaring at an immense height. With this idea of its gigantic size, it is natural that travellers should believe and re- port tales of its strength and ferocity in attack- ing and carrying off man and large animals. Its beak and claws are very strong, but are employed in tearing dead rather than living animals. Humboldt could not ascertain that these birds had ever carried off a child, and believed that the reports of their killing young persons are as fabulous as those concern- ing the great noise made in their flight. Still, with their great strength, there is no doubt that condors might destroy children and even man; they have been seen to attack young bulls, and tear out their tongue and eyes. Nevertheless, the natives of the Andes uni- formly assert that they are not dangerous to man, and even leave their young children asleep in the open air without fear of their being carried off. The true condor belongs exclusively to the chain of the Andes, from the straits of Magellan to a few degrees north of the equator. Condors generally live in pairs, in the most elevated and solitary localities ; from these they descend into the valleys and plains in search of food, generally the carcasses of large animals. Their ordinary habitat is between the altitudes of 10,000 and 16,000 ft. The largest seem to make their home around the volcano of Cayambe, which stands exactly on the equator. In the rainy season they frequently descend to the coast, where they may be seen roosting on trees. They are most commonly seen around vertical cliffs, where their nests are, and where cattle are most likely to fall. Great numbers frequent Antisana, where there is an extensive cattle estate. When gorged with food, they retire to their ledges to digest it. As summer ap- proaches, they seek the most inaccessible crags to rear their young ; the female makes no nest,