. Reptiles and birds. A popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting. . e collar. The wings are as long as the tail, their whole develop-ment being ten or twelve feet. The length of the bird from the pointof the bill to the tip of the tail is on an average about four feet. The chief habitat of the Condor is the western slope of the chainof the Andes, Bolivia, Peru, and Chili; it frequents all the differentaltitudes, from the burning sands of the sea-coast to the ice-boundsolitudes of perpetual snow. Humboldt and Bonpland, when expl
. Reptiles and birds. A popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting. . e collar. The wings are as long as the tail, their whole develop-ment being ten or twelve feet. The length of the bird from the pointof the bill to the tip of the tail is on an average about four feet. The chief habitat of the Condor is the western slope of the chainof the Andes, Bolivia, Peru, and Chili; it frequents all the differentaltitudes, from the burning sands of the sea-coast to the ice-boundsolitudes of perpetual snow. Humboldt and Bonpland, when exploringthe Andes, repeatedly noticed Condors close round them when at aheight of 15,700 feet above the level of the sea. DOrbigny saw themas high up as the summit of Illimani; and he likewise met withthem on the coasts of Peru and Patagonia, seeking their food amongthe various debris which the waves had thrown upon the shore,proving that they can support variations of temperature which man THE CONDOR. 601 would be unable to bear; in fact, at a height of 19,000 feet theair becomes so rarefied, and the cold so intense, that no human. Fig. 281.—J he Condor. being would be able to exist for any length of time subject to theirinfluence. The Condor passes the night at great elevations, perched on acrag. As soon as the rising sun gilds the peaks of the mountains 602 REPTILES AND BIRDS. it raises its neck, hitherto buried between its shoulders, and shakingits wide wings, launches into space. The impetus of its own weightat first carries it downwards, but soon recovering itself, it traversesthe aerial space with majestic ease and grandeur. Almost im-perceptible movements of the wings are sufficient to carry it inevery direction ; at one moment it is skimming over the surface ofthe ground, now it is up in the clouds, 3,000 feet above. TheCondors power, of vision is so great that it commands a view ofthe plain beneath from the greatest altitudes, and although it is nolonger visible to den
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectrep
