The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-01-14
AFTER BIG BIRDS.
Money Made In Hunting tundors ~
Central GbItI.

:,
In a ie" weeks We 'AheeA '''''
learned every aetai' o' h'','ns '"i,NV' .
and our native ingenuity nao auo", ~
the experience OF me 'H'l'ahs'
months got IRON zen 10 t"eH'y c"h"''
heads every cay ana eaeh one IA ga
party did haif az wei ~ 'Hat. "'
early training on tHr pains 81 h"''s
and Nevada was my STOCK III 'i",,'
Every hohth curing 'Ae s'"''
1879 and 1873 ! got warrants Oh VIZ
Gillian treasury Tor from @'"N 10 @'"''
One month, when mao iof"ar"e" S''
dried condor heads 10 the c"h'roi'ef %
Chill and mad sworn that mere "a8 ="
fraud by NE, GOT warrant i"r H''Vo''
That WAS the rta-Iet'ef month III ny
coDd6r-lafso'ng DAYS. was f""'''
from CIVILIZATION ana so cou'o ilotSPe'r
my money II | desired never S"'e'
money Tx" hat before nor SINCE
The big birds used to he found ~
fochs Of 10 or 10 in the grazing coth-
tries Of the lower Andes in Central
Chill. Like other members OF the VuI-
ture family they search every"heF'
for carcasses upon which to feed lheS
have wonderfully keen eye, ana nave
proved to myself that condor can see
dead animal ten or even Is miles
NNaF. ] have tried experiments "hert
eoGdors have been aIiured over eight
miles from mountain crag above the
snow line by a bait OF bleeding e"at
in the valley below.
But the condor diners WIN othe'
members OF the F"i'' lfe 'al'lI'S ID 'N"'
h" dpesnt wait for something or So'i''-
body to d1e IN "ruer thHt ne may nave
his dinner puf II De "oeSf ma " ffa"S
made carcass convenient ON 'he Pla''
"heh nc N hungry ne Pi'Nee'S az on''
to pfoSde that carcass h'''sel'' Inc
herds OF cattle 'hat past'ired on the oh-
dnia'ihe pains oet"eeh 'he if''l'e"eafa'
be wall OF the Ahoes hH" 'he I"cihe
Wh'tf-crested me OF SURF oHereu .ae
CONDOR nnr''a'eo '"''t'''eS III ms mug
~ ~
in state OF chrome munger ms KING
o. the feathefeo race le''ta CONSTANT
tr'h"'e Oh Inc grazing heros'
twenty-five years ago IL was no WI
common th'nS 10 see h"hofeos Oh .nese
freeboo'ers hoVerins over Tue P'a'"s
each one raVehous ana de'erlhaed
dinner foopef from the herds oelow,
TO when 'he shaa"" OF eoldor's wing
carried as much terror lis the appear
ance OF hawk does 20 a brood of chick
ems. The condor was the greatest enc
myNthe stock sraisers in that part OF
SoutiH'>x America had to contend with,
and it was his persistent and de-
structiye raids on grazing cattle that
made him an outlaw with price on his
head
How did we capture these ferocious
birds? Our first job every morning
before we had even peep of sunlight
over the mountains was to carry the
carcass of a dead ANIMAL horse or a
cow--out on the plain, where 1t could
Vastly bt S'til lioill al bpi'tS Va Wv
compass. We sometimes made car
cnss do service for fortnight, but 1t
required strong stomach and indif-
ference TO stencil. We moved about
every few days from one locality to an.
other, and never put the rotting body
twice in the same place, because OF the
extreme suspiciousness Of an average
condor. Generally we would move
three or four miles every "a hours
Sometimes, when we were not doing so
well as we thought we should do, we
would move ten miles away to another
valley.
After we had placed our bait carcass
we set up our tents and the canvas flies
that concealed us aud our horses from
the view of the condors, Breakfast was
no sooner over than we could see from
our peepholes in the canvas that hid
us several condors coming down
through the clouds from the mountain
crest straight toward our bait. We
waited patiently until dozen or more
of the birds had eaten heartily OF the
meal we had provided for them, and
then we sprang to our horses. which
stood near, bridled and snddled, ready
for the chase. In a second we were off,
lariats in hand, after the condors.
II should be said here that when
condor has gorged itself with food II