I« Vultur gryphus, Lin» Syß.i» 121. N° i . •
Le Condor, Brijfon ornith. i. p. 473*
Le Condor, Buffon oif» i. p. 184.
Guntur, Raii Syn. p. ii% N° 9.
r jpH IS bird is not only the largeft of this genus, but perhaps
**• of all others which are able to fly.— The accounts of authors;
in regard to it’s extent of wing, are .various, v iz. from nine feet
to eighteen feet, from the tip of one wing to that of the other.
One * gives it ftrength fufficient to carry off Iheep, and boys of
ten years old; while another f ventures to affirm, that it can lift
an elephant from the ground, high enough to kill, it by the
fall!M
. de Salerne% lays, that one of this, kind was Ihot in France>
in the year 1719, which weighed eighteen pounds, and whofe
extent of wing was eighteen feet. But to come nearer the truths
perhaps we had better abide by thofe whofe defcriptions bear a
moderate proportion.
In Hawkefw orth's Voyages §, mention is made of one of thefe
birds, Ihot at Port Beßre, off Penguin lfland ; the defcription of
D i s c r e t io n . which, will ferve our purpofe: — “ The head of this bird re-
« fembled that of an eagle, except that it had, a large comb upon
“ it. Round the neck, it had a white ruff, exaftly refembling a
««lady’s tippet: the feathers on the back as black as jet, and as
* Frefier Voy. de la Mer Sud. p. 1 11.
f Marc Paul Defcrip. Geog. b. 3. ch. 40.
X Ornith.,de Sälerne, p. io#
I VoU i. p. 15-
“ bright
" bright as the fineft polilh could render that mineral: the legs
“ were remarkably ftrong and large, and the talons like thofe of
“ an eagle, except they were not fo iharp: and the wings, when
“ they were extended, meafured,. from point to point, no lefs
than twelve feet.” — This laft account feems by no means to
exceed the natural lize, fince we have an account in the Philo-
fophical Tranfablions * of one of the quill-feathers of this bird,'
brought from Chili, which meafured two feet four inches; the
diameter of the quill, half an inch; and the extent of wing, lix-
teen feet. This bird was met with in lat. j j S. not far from the'
ifland Mocha, in the South Seas, in the year 1691. The leamen
Ihot. it. on a>. cliff by the fea-lide, and, taking it for a kind of
turkey, made, a meal of it. In this account we are told that the'
colour was black and white, like a magpie, and the creft, or
comb, Iharp like a razor.
It has been fuppofed, that thefe birds were peculiar to South
America ; but Buffon believes they, are likewile inhabitants of
Afia and Africa, and not unlikely of Europe alfb; if the Laemmer-
geir f of the Germans be the lame bird,' which' he leems inclined
to think; and that the Roc or Ruch, mentioned frequently in the
Arabian Tales, may alfo prove to be the lik e : to which I may
add, the probability of the fame bird giving rile to one of the-
labours of Hercules, recorded by the ancients ; I mean, the de-
ftroyihg the birds called Stymphalides. But this is mere conjecture
: other authors have a different opinion J.
* Vol. xvm. p. 6,1. See alfo the fame account.in Raii Symffa Avium, p. 11.
t Hift. des,oifeaux, vol. i. p. 193, jq^,
I “ Some authors maintain, that under this fable of the Stymphalida was
figured a certain band of robbers, who infefted this-country [drcadia] and were
exterminated by Hercules.,’ } Ogle's Antiq» Gems, vol, i. p. h i .
Placs#
Alberta