Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/181

Rh the Condors Hew past, and letting fly with my three solitary bullets, without taking steady aim, was mortified to find that their wingfeathers alone were struck, which did not stop their progress. As the birds flew over us, there was a perfect hail of meat around us, disgorged by them to accelerate their flight.

Suddenly a loud shout of "Viva!" was heard, and looking round I perceived a fine Condor struggling on the ground, lassoed by one of the peons. One other was lassoed by our host, but it managed to slip the knot, and so escaped. Don Palemon had no better luck with his fowling-piece than I with my rifle, firing two shots without effect, although a small boy standing by remarked that one Condor was hit in the eye, and certainly a drop of something—most likely a Condor's parting tear—fell at Don Palemon's feet.

Our capture was a male bird of medium size, but in very good condition, measuring over ten feet across the wings. Some of the Condors having settled on a neighbouring eminence, one or two of us gave chase, Don Enrique firing two unsuccessful shots, and I—in very vexation at not having a better weapon—amused the game by using my revolver. All the Condors had now taken to flight, circling high above our heads, of course awaiting our departure to continue their meal, and as all chance of further sport on that day had vanished, we wisely returned homewards to dinner.

Time did not permit us to extend the programme, as intended, to the sacking of Condors' nests—a difficult and dangerous feat. About a league distant stands a precipice, on a ledge of which, 200 feet deep, the Condors love to build, and to reach this a rope is suspended dangling in the air, and if the old birds return during the burglarions attempt, woe to the daring hunter! The universal testimony is that the Condor lays but one egg.

I managed to construct a leather hood for the captured Condor, and, having tied his legs and wings, deposited him safely in one of the panniers; and then, all being ready, we bade adieu to the kind family where we had been so hospitably entertained for two days. Our host serving as guide, our descent was rapid. Passing round the crest of a hill, three Condors were espied, evidently about to attack a calf grazing with a few head of cattle in the hollow beneath us. Now the Condors are notoriously inquisitive, and one of them sailing up to interview