wondrous GoaHor. -.'They had not, as we have,v; thé means' Off
personally ascertaining the sober truth. ’ :Rut it is almost incredible,
and remarkably illustrates the force of prefeoheeived opinions,
that ia the year 4®0, a traveller could be ifound with assurance
enough to imposé upon us^ andi jourbals, even of nespfectabie
standing,ftô copy as positive and auth«nti&ÿ ^ deséà^ptiibn of a
Condfor tof moderate size, jMst- killed* and factually lying befere thé.
namator, so.luæge that a single quill-feather was "twenty good
pafetes long! This idfeNfeed might have Mfted an Elephant, and it
is quitfe unfortunate that Peru ah# Chili should no longer produce
them for prey for such a bird, and that the JSfestodon is ^iow
e^tinefc 'Sö much for human credulity/ w|â©h is often exercjgted
upon more serious occasions, with equal impudence and much
wörse results.
■As in so many ÉÉttrinstances Of power based upon prejudice,
or great reputation unjustlÿ usurped, a near and. cfose examiuntifin
has shown the falsètyiof these pretensioh&VîfThte woridèifel CoÉtfofe
nowproves to be nothing more than airather largé Vultùrél «The
same has happened, as Humboldt observes, with it^edratryme»*
the gigantic Patagonians, who are foünd at last not to exceed vh#
stature, of ordinary men.
Notwithstanding the faithful sÉfeounts of a few ofi the uJlilt
authors, the true history of thd Condor had remained involved in
obscurity..created^ by mingling it with so-many éhlMish tales,
when the celebrated Humboldt, studying it living with tbe> sober
éyte of %ruth and philosophy, furnished a dorréét description, a
gouid d#awii|g, and an excellent metonir upon it. •i.'Sixïée that time
several stuffed %s’well às living specimens have reached the
menageries and museums of tbe^united States and Europe, which
with the three plates published by Temminck, have- rendered it
familiar toiall. ? Ityfe;but juft, howe^erj to mfention that Latham
had; long before HrnmbóM^ given ?in his .second Supplement a
tolerably correct description bf both sexes, with a figure of the
adult male/ apd ;tak!eB^t@ds®ifrs®ps; jÿjtife identical.specimens, now at
Vienna, and originally brought to England by Captain Middfeton
from the straits of. Magellan, th a t _ furnished the subj#ts. of
Temminck’s plates.
T h e adults of botlj sexes, and *a. young ’female,- having been
tolerably - wyll represented, ; it: is the yoadg niafePthat we Ka*re
preferred. to figure in this work, in ordemtóms^M ’Complete the
Iconography .dfas®, in te re stin g ^ , sp e c i^ ^H k n d we trust; th a t
through the exerjipns of our artists, our ngmre, which is reduced
thijge and a h a lK tim ^ from nature, will be found for minuteness,
of accuracy m u c h ,s ||||rio r to a llow in g ibo-thp extraordinary pains;
t ^ s n b y $&Kf E a ^ ^ n ; ' who besides being furnished with *a
correct drawing, made repeated Visits no the lining bird, carefully
jVaoeying; iiiïfe rm a n d dimensioh i'in all their detailsijSH-
^Æ h e genus Fuüur-- o f . Linné, now $$§ family •• Fulturini, (or
& fajnijy fa st ^stafilishied b y ’Duméril .under the appellation
of .Pta7o</ères, or. 'Nudicofles,* though, ntoohf des® numerous
Ospfell, a s legs intricate ïn the», ch ambers w the Species than
Jhë M-Falconidæ, d£ which n ) 8 ^ id under-Ihel&fead of
JÉMco eooperii, haS netopthelgss much exercised the ingenuity of
ornithologists, who n|p®ly all- disagree.'both as to its limits and
its subdivisions. With s®espect*yto th e „former, those recognised
by us will be d é a r and Well defined* this»family being’eöhstituted
of the twof nÉodern généra Vultur anà+Çcûthartesi. of .Illiger/ which?
wé adopt with’ some modifications,! a | will vJbfe seen hereafter,
j&pntrary to th e general praetiqié^we discard from it the a b e rra n t,
Igtnera forming the passage together groups/ in which we prefer
arranging-them. Mle *groups towards which a diraet jpaisage is
'the most obvious are the family, oiMapaces, or Falconidæj and!
lo m e 'typical Gallinæ and -aberrant Waders. With, n either the^
Passeres nor thé • webfooted. orders, "(unless it may be with the
VOL. iv.—B