The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 18??-1882, 1881-11-25
TheCondor.

II
tain chain of the Andes, and is one of
the largest birds of prey. The average
expanse OF the condor's wings is from
eight to nine feet, and the length of
the body from the point of the beak to
the extremity of the tail three feet and
five or six inches.
The color of the condor is a Qrayish
black; the wings are marked with
white, and there is a collar of downy
white feathers about the neck. The
crest Of the male is quite large. The
internal structure of the condor pre-
sents some curious features; the gizzard
is provided with longitudinal rows of
horny spikes, which are supposed to
assist the bird in the rapid digestion of
its food.
These birds often attack cows, bulls
and deer. and as their assaults are
chiefly directed upon the eyes, they
blind their victims, and they soon fall
by the blows which are inflicted upon
them by the beaks of the birds.
The condor is very strong, and even
when wounded a powerful man is no
match for one of these creatures.
The Indians have great dislike to
these birds, and if they capture one OF
them alive they torture it very cruel
ly. Their mode of capture is as fol-
lows: They kill an animal and expose
the body in the open air. The condors
soon assemble in large numbers and
feast upon the flesh. AS soon as they
are gOrged to the full the Indians dash
in among them and capture them with
their lassos. When they feel the moose
around their necks they endeavor to
reject the meal which they have swal-
lowed, but are made captives before
they are able to rid themselves of the
food.
The flight of these birds is grand and
beautiful; they seem to fly by moving
the head and neck rather than the
wings.
Very little has been known of the
habits of these birds until lately, as
they live at the height of from 10000
to $4,000 feet, and only come down to
the lower points in search of prey. The
Indians assert that the eggs are laid
upon the bare rock, the bird making
no nest whatever.
Although there have been condors in
the Geological Gardens at Dresden
since 1874, it is only recently that any
thing has been found out in regard to
the length of the brooding season, their
habits at the time, their manner of
feeding their young, etc.
The condors in Dresden commenced
laying in April, 1877, and, after that,
laid from two to three eggs yearly in
April or May, but unfortunately they
crush their eggs Immediately, or after
playing with them several days. Last
year nest of dried branches, feathers
and wool was made in the top of the
cage, about two meters from the
ground, and it was thought that the
birds would avail themselves of it.
Loose material for nest-building was
also put in the cage, but the female
laid her eggs in the sand as before,
and both the eggs were soon destroyed.
The same thing happened this year in
the middle of April. Shortly after the
birds were removed into the large
summer quarters of the birds of prey,
and the female laid an egg on the 9th
of May, in dark corner of the cage.
The next day the male commenced to
brood. All the materials for a nest
that the keeper laid under and about
the eggs were rejected and scratched
away, and the brOoding went on upon
the gravel bottom of the cage. The
male devoted himself to the brOOding
the greater part of the time, the in
dolent female only setting upon the
egg about third of the time
On tina seventh of July, after nearly
eight weeks, the keeper announced
that he had discovered life in the egg,
and on the same day rent was per-
ceived in the shell. The next day the
bird had almost escaped from the sh ell,
only the head and neck remaining in,
and on the following day the bird was
entirely freed. Since then the old
birds have been very busily employed
in giving the little one the necessary
warmth, and have manifested equal
anxiety in feeding it with horse flesh
and small pieces of cat and dog flesh,
The little fellow, with it's grayish
feathers, looks something like a young
owl. Its head and neck are gate
black. If any one approaches, it CON-
mences already to utter angry crys,
and the old birds are so ugly that the
keeper can only enter the cage armed.
The brooding continued for eight
weeks less one day. Cassel says, in
his "Natural History" that condor's
egg was Matched in six weeks and two
days by hen. This may be on ac-
count of the nest which the hen had.
The young bird, on the first day,
measured ten centimeters in length,
and on the twentieth day twenty-eight
centimeters. The condors are fond of
bathing, and often sit upon their eggs
with their wet feathers.