CONDOR, Sarcoramplius grypicus, the great vulture of the Andes, and the largest of known flying birds. Its dimensions, however, were for a long time greatly exaggerated. It is not always much larger than the bimmerycyer of the Alps. being sometimes scarcely more than 4 ft. long, and its expanse of wings about 9 ft., although these dimensions are often considerably exceeded, and the expanse of wings reaches fully 14 feet. The wings are long, aml extremely powerful; the tail short, and wedge shaped; the general color black, which is brightest in old males, the young being of a brownish colori..Whiakhat givedrise. to a notion that thorc.are two species; the males are also distinguished by having great part of the wings white. Around the lower part of the neck of bothsexes there is a broad white ruff of downy feathers, above which the skin is bare, and exhibits many folds. The head of the male is crowned with a large car tilaginous comb, and the neck is furnished with a dilatable wattle. The beak is thick and strong, straight at the base, but the upper mandible strongly curved at the extrem ity. The C. feels mostly on carrion. lts voracity is enormous. Tschudi mentions one in confinement at Valparaiso which ate 18 lbs. of meat in a single day, and seemed next day to have as good an appetite as usual. Condors often gorge themselves so that
they cannot fly, and, if attacked, must disgorge in order to escape. They inhabit regions 10,000 or 15,000 feet above the level of the sea, where they breed, making no nest, but laying their eggs on the bare rocks, and where they are usually seen in small groups. To these haunts they return, after their descents into the plains for food. The height to which the C. soars in the air exceeds that of any other bird, and is said to be almost 6 perpendicular m. above the level of the sea, or nearly six times the ordinary height of the clouds.—To the same genus with the C., distinguished by the cartilagin ous comb, bare neck, and peculiar shape of bill, belong the king vulture, or king of the vultures (S. papa), of the warm parts of America, and the Californian vulture (S. Cali- fornianus). The king of the vultures is about the size of a goose, and derives its name from its driving away other vultures from prey at its pleasure. Its plumage is finely colored, reddish above, white beneath, with bluish-gray ruff, and black quilts and tail. —The birds of this genus have no voice, and make only a sort of weak snorting.