that admirable success, which has attended all her works. They are all of the
natural size with the exception of four raptorial birds, a goose and a species of
Rhea. As the dimensions of these latter birds are given, their proportional
reduction will readily he seen. I had originally intended to have added the initial
letter of my name to the account of the habits and ranges, and that of Mr. Gould’s
to the description of the genera and species ; but as it may he known that he is
responsible for the latter, and myself for the former, this appeared to me useless ;
and I have, therefore, thought it better to incorporate all general remarks in my
own name, stating on every occasion my authority, so that wherever the personal
pronoun is used it refers to myself. Finally, I must remark, that after the
excellent dissertation, now in the course of publication, on the habits and distribution
of the birds of South America by M. Alcide 0 ’Orhigny, in which he has
combined his own extended ohsei-vations with those of Azara, my endeavour to
add anything to our information on this subject, may at first be thought superfluous.
But as during the Beagle’s voyage, I visited some portions of America
south of the range of M. D ’Orhigny’s travels, I shall relate in order the few facts,
which I have been enabled to collect together; and these, if not new, may at least
tend to confirm former accounts. I have, however, thought myself obliged to omit
some parts, which otherwise I should have given; and, after having read the published
portion of M. D ’Orhigny’s great work, I have corrected some errors, into
which I had fallen. I have not, however, altered any thing simply because it
differs from what that gentleman may have written; but only where I have been
convinced that my means of observation were inferior to his.
B I R D S .
F a m i l y — V U L T U R I D ^ .
S a r c o r a m p h u s g r y p h u s . Bonap.
Vultur gryphus, L inn.
•, Hiiml. Zoolog. p. 31.
Sarcoramphus Condor, L/Orligny. Voy. Ois.
Condor of the inhabitants of South America.
T h e Condor is known to have a wide range, being found on the west coast of
South America, from the Strait of Magellan, throughout the range of the Cordillera.
as far, according to M. D ’Orbigny, as 8° north latitude. On the Patagonian
shore, the steep cliff near the mouth of the Rio Negro, in latitude 41°, was the
most northern point where I ever saw these birds, or heard of their existence ;
and they have there wandered about four hundred miles from the great central line
of their habitation in the Andes. Further south, among the bold precipices which
form the head of Port Desire, they are not uncommon ; yet only a few stragglers
occasionally visit the sea-coast. A line of cliff near the mouth of the Santa
Cruz is frequented by these birds, and about eighty miles up the river, where the
sides of the valley were formed by steep basaltic precipices, the Condor again
appeared, although in the intermediate space not one had been seen. From
these and similar facts, I believe that the presence of this bird is chiefly determined
by the occurrence of perpendicular cliffs. In Patagonia the Condors, either
by pairs or many together, both sleep and breed on the same overhanging
ledges. In Chile, however, during the greater part of the year, they haunt the
lower country, near the shores of the Pacific, and at night several roost in
one tree; but in the early part of summer they retire to the most inaccessible
parts of the inner Cordillera, there to breed in peace.
B 2