The CONDOR.--This is not only the largest of vultures, but the largest
known bird of flight. It is common in the regions of the Andes, in
South America, and is occasionally found as far north as the Rocky
Mountains of the United States. Nuttall gives us the following
characteristic sketch of this fierce and formidable bird:--
"A pair of condors will attack a cougar, a deer, or a llama: pursuing
it for a long time, they will occasionally wound it with their bills
and claws, until the unfortunate animal, stifled, and overcome with
fatigue, extends its tongue and groans; on which occasion the condor
seizes this member, being a very tender and favorite morsel, and tears
out the eyes of its prey, which at length falls to the earth and
expires. The greedy bird then gorges himself, and rests, in stupidity
and almost gluttonous inebriation, upon the highest neighboring rocks.
He can then be easily taken, as he is so gorged that he cannot fly."
_Vultures in Africa._--Mr. Pringle describes these birds as follows:
"They divide with the hyaenas the office of carrion scavengers; and the
promptitude with which they discover and devour every dead carcass is
truly surprising. They also instinctively follow any band of hunters,
or party of men travelling, especially in solitary places, wheeling in
circles high in the air, ready to pounce down upon any game that may be
shot and not instantly secured, or the carcass of any ox, or other
animal, that may perish on the road. In a field of battle, no one ever
buries the dead; the vultures and beasts of prey relieve the living of
that trouble."
TURKEY BUZZARD and CARRION CROW.--These are two small species of
vulture, common in our Southern States, and may be often seen in the
cities, prowling for such offals as may fall in their way. Wilson
furnishes us with the following sketch: "Went out to Hampstead this
forenoon. A horse had dropped down in the street, in convulsions; and
dying, it was dragged out to Hampstead, and skinned. The ground, for a
hundred yards beyond it, was black with carrion crows; many sat on the
tops of sheds, fences, and houses within sight; sixty or eighty in the
opposite side of a small run. I counted, at one time, two hundred and
thirty-seven; but I believe there were more, besides several in the air
over my head, and at a distance. I ventured cautiously within thirty
yards of the carcass, which three or four dogs, and twenty or thirty
vultures, were busily tearing and devouring. Seeing them take no
notice, I ventured nearer, till I was within ten yards, and sat down on
the bank. On observing that they did not heed me, I stole so close that
my feet were within one yard of the horse's legs, and I again sat down.
They all slid aloof a few feet; but seeing me quiet, they soon returned
as before. As they were often disturbed by the dogs, I ordered the
latter home: my voice gave no alarm to the vultures. As soon as the
dogs departed, the vultures crowded in such numbers, that I counted, at
one time, thirty-seven on and around the carcass, with several within;
so that scarcely an inch of it was visible."