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, who
seek its destruction by a variety of means. Firearms are, however,
useless, as its thick and strongly-constructed coat of feathers will
turn aside a bullet. Besides, it is so tenacious of life, that one has
been known to receive several bullets in its body, and to have lived a
considerable time afterwards. The shepherds train their dogs to give
notice of the approach of a condor; and the moment one appears in the
sky, they look upwards, and bark violently till their masters appear.
Among other modes which the natives employ to capture it, they kill an
old mare--which they have an idea is better than a horse--and allow the
bird to gorge itself. It then becomes so sluggish, that they can
without difficulty throw their bolas round its neck and legs. It also
sleeps so soundly, that they frequently manage to approach it when at
roost, and capture it in the same way.
In the province of Abacay, in Peru, another method is employed. A
native fastens a quantity of putrid flesh to a fresh cow-skin, under
which he lies hid with a supply of rope. When the condor pounces down
upon the meat, and remains gorging himself, the native fastens its legs
by means of the rope to the skin. As soon as this is done, he creeps
from beneath it. The frightened bird in vain attempts to escape.
Immediately the hunter's companions, rushing forward, throw their bolas
over the bird, and make it captive. Frequently several are thus caught
at the same time.
The cruel and disgusting custom of bull-baiting is still kept up in the
country, and the condors are employed to add to the terror and
sufferings of the unhappy bull. Before the unfortunate animal is driven
into the circus, his back is laid bare with a lance, and one of the
birds, which has been starved for a week or more, is bound upon it. The
famished condor immediately attacks the raw, quivering flesh of the poor
beast; and while it is thus engaged, the bull is driven into the midst
of the arena, to afford amusement to the savage spectators.
There is among the mountains a natural funnel-shaped excavation, sixty
feet in depth, and about eighty feet in diameter at the top. The
Indians place, on the edge of the pit, the putrid body of a mule, so
balanced that it will easily fall over. In a short time it is
discovered by numbers of condors, which, darting down, greedily attack
it. Tugging and pulling at the flesh, they soon draw it over the edge,
when it falls to the bottom of the pit. Not to be disappointed of their
prey, they hold tightly to the body, and descend with it. Here, having
gorged themselves, they are unable to rise again to the mouth of the
pit, and are speedily killed with stones and sticks by the natives who
collect round it, or are drawn captive to the surface. Dr Tschudi, in
his Travels, mentions having seen twenty-eight birds at one time thus
destroyed.
They are caught in a similar manner in other places, and brought down to
the coast, where they are sold for a few dollars; and often thus find
their way to Europe. It was long an unsettled point whether the condor
discovers the dead animals on which it feeds by the power of sight or of
scent; but Darwin, by several experiments, has settled the question in
favour of the bird's keenness of vision.
A number of condors were kept captive in a garden, secured by ropes.
Wrapping up a piece of meat in white paper, and holding it in his hand,
he walked up and down in front of the birds; but they took no notice of
it. He then threw it down in front of an old male bird; but it was
still disregarded. He then pushed it with a stick till it touched the
condor's beak, when the paper was torn off with fury, and every bird in
the row began struggling and flapping its wings to reach the food.
Under the same circumstances, no dog would have been deceived.
The condor is said formerly to have been worshipped in Peru. Perhaps
the Peruvians, seeing it descend through the air from beyond their
sight, supposed it a celestial messenger from the sun, which they
worshipped. If so, their descendants treat it in a very different way
to what they must then have done.
A condor ordinarily measures nine feet from tip to tip of the wings, and
slightly over four feet from beak to tail.