CONDOR, an American vulture (Sarcorhampus gryphus), almost the largest of existing birds of flight. It usually measures about 4 ft. in length and g ft. between the tips of its wings, but large specimens span o f t. or more. The head and neck are des titute of feathers, and the head, which is much flattened above, is in the male crowned with a caruncle or comb, while the skin of the neck in the same sex forms a wattle. The adult plumage is of a uniform black, with the exception of a frill of white feathers nearly surrounding the base of the neck, and certain wing feathers which have large patches of white. The middle toe is greatly elongated, and the hinder one but slightly developed, while the talons are comparatively straight and blunt. The female, contrary to the usual rule among birds of prey, is smaller than the male.
The condor is a native of the South American Andes, from the Straits of Magellan to 4° north latitude. It is often seen on the shores of the Pacific, especially during the rainy season, but its favourite haunts are at elevations of io,000 to 16,000 ft. There, during February and March, on inaccessible ledges of rock, it deposits two white eggs, from 3 to 4 in. in length, its nest consist ing merely of a few sticks. Incubation lasts for seven weeks, and the young are covered with a whitish down until almost as large as their parents. They are unable to fly till a year old. By preference condors feed on carrion, but do not hesitate to attack sheep, goats and deer. They are exceedingly voracious. When gorged with food, they are sluggish and may then be read ily caught. They sleep during the greater part of the day, searching for food in the morning and evening. They are heavy sleepers, and hunters climb the trees on which they roost,noosing them before they wake. They can exist, it is said, without food for more than 4o days. On wing the movements of the condor are remarkably graceful. The birds flap their wings on rising from the ground, but after attain ing a moderate elevation they seem to sail on the air. Thus Dar win watched one for half an hour without once observing a flap of its wings. Humboldt observed them over Chimborazo at a height of more than 23,000 feet.
The California condor (gymnogyps californianus) is found in the Coast ranges of southern California from Monterey bay south to Lower California and east to Arizona. It has white under-wing coverts, with a wing spread of o ft.