Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-10-28
OUR BIC CONDORS
In Weight and Spread of Wing
They Surpass All Other Birds.

II Is hot knO"N We
have a condor in the United States.
yet there is one on the Pacific coast
that in weight and spread of wing sur
passes all other birds. From tip to
tip of wing 1t measures more than ten
feet, considerably more than the con-
dor of the Andes and about a yard
more than the largest eagle or swan.
This condor is black. tinged with
brown. except under the wings, where
there is a long. narrow strip of almost
pure white running the whole length
of the wing and widening near the
body. 1t has no ruff round the neck.
but fringe of long. narrow black
feathers on the back of the neck gives
it a savage appearance. 1t nests
among the rocks in lofty cliffs. laying
several white eggs much larger than
those OF the turkey or goose. From
1878 to 1855 condOrs were so abun-
dant in southern California that / used
to see them almost every day. but now
they are found only in the wilder noun
tains. Their eggs bring 800 each in
the larger museums of the country.
If an animal is sick or disabled the
condor rarely hesitates to attack 1t,
and its fate is soon sealed if it is not
strong enough to defend itself or es-
cape its enemy.
Like the condor of the Andes. that
of California will so gorge itself with
food at times that it can be lassoed
in the quick dash of a good horse.
friend of mine at San Jacinto had one
that had been caught in that way.
Bet. although he had thousands of
sheep and cattle. he had to give the
bird away because he could not afford
to feed it. II would eat a whole sheep
at a meal and then look hungry and
sad. as if 1t were badly treated.
Once clear of the ground. with wings
cutSpread. the condor has no trouble
in bearing away into the clouds din
ner that will last week or two.
Standing on the ground at a distance
this great bird looks much like a big
black Newfoundland dog sitting up for
a cracker. but in the air it surpasSes in
| grace and variety of action every other
wanderer of the skies. The whooping
| crane, that floats like a speck of down
in the remotest blue; the frigate bird,
! whose wing seems never made to fold,
even the albatross. are all clumsy and
mon. tonous compared with the condor.
| Ii travels in a series of winding lines,
! in which symmetry and grace always
/ govern the boldest sweeps or the high
est bursts of speed.
Dozens of times I have laid among
ha no r n IN
near that | could plainly see the spar
kle of the brown eye in the vivid red
of the bare head. and with the strong
glass that | always carried in hunting
deer | have brought the bird much
nearer. Yet never could | detect the
slightest motion Of wing or feathers
beyond lazy lap or two at intervals
of several minutes or a simple inbend-
ing of the tips of the wings, as If feel
ing the breeze to be sure it was there.
And the bird often floats an hour or
more without even this slight motion.
II is quite wonderful when the con,
dor sets its wings and slides sidewtse
across strong breeze without any de-
scent. yet without falling backward
and still more so to see the great bird
return with a swing of half mile OF
more, arriving hundreds OF feet above
the point Of starting and perhaps hun,
dreds of yards ahead OF it
When | have been well hidden among
the rocks l have seen a condor within
few yards hanging on the air fol
many seconds at a time-not like the
hawk balancing itself to fall upon some
bird below. but seeming to sleep there
as peacefully and quietly as a summer
cloud. Then suddenly the bird has
turned half over and cleft the air with
q sharp hiss OF wing feathers, fol
which there was not the slightest mo
ton of wing to account And all this
time the condor has been rising instead
OF falling. and have vainly watched
the fringed tips Of the great wings FOL
the slightest sign of mOtion.-T. s VaI
Dyke in Youths Companion