ed off to Australia, where, in a high and dry district, they
appear to be flourishing.

THE CONDOR.

The traveller standing on the rocky heights of the Cordilleras, at an
elevation which Etna does not surpass, though still with many a
snow-capped mountain round him, may see, on one of the dizzy pinnacles
amid which he stands, a vast bird. It is the condor, the largest of the
vulture tribe; the monarch of the birds of that region. He may know it
by the glossy black colour, tinged with grey, of its body; the greater
wing-coverts, except at the base and tips, and the quill-feathers being
mostly white. Round the neck is a white ruff of down; the skin of the
head and neck is excessively wrinkled, and is of a dull reddish colour
with a tinge of purple. Surmounting the forehead is a large, firm comb,
with a loose skin under the bill which can be dilated at pleasure. Now
it expands its wings, nine feet from tip to tip. Off it flies from its
rocky perch, now appearing to sink with its own weight; but, gradually
rising, it soars aloft, even above the glittering dome of Chimborazo, no
vibration seen in its powerful wings. Higher and higher it soars, till
it appears a mere speck in the blue ether; then, lost to the sight of
human eye, darts rapidly downwards towards the sultry coast of the
Pacific, there to prey upon the putrefying carcasses of animals it may
espy from afar.

On that lofty pinnacle, or some jutting ledge near it, the female has
laid its two eggs, and here it rears its young. The eggs are large and
white, and laid upon the bare rock. The young are covered with a
whitish down, and, it is said, are unable to fly for an entire year.
Few other birds can fly to so great a distance above the earth. It
appears to respire as easily in the most rarefied air as on the
seashore. They do not live in pairs, like the eagle, but several are
generally found together. When an animal falls dead, a number of the
vast birds are soon seen coming from afar to feast on the carcass.

Great as is the altitude to which the condor can fly, and although it
ranges through clouds and storms to the southern end of the Andes, it is
not found to the north of Panama.

The condor is a true vulture, gorging itself on dead and putrid
carcasses. It will also attack the young llama, as well as lambs and
calves, which it carries away in its powerful talons. This makes it
dreaded and hated by the shepherds of the hills and plains alike,