Note b — BOOK IV.

Captain J. Strong gave me this Account, together with a Quill-Feather of the Cuntur or Condor of Peru. On the Coast of Chili, they met with this Bird in about 33° S. Lat. not far from Mocha, an Island in the South-Sea,——they shot it sitting on a Cliff, by the Sea-side; that it was 16 Feet from Wing to Wing extended; that the Spanish Inhabitants told them they were afraid of these Birds, lest they should prey upon their Children. And the Feather he gave me (saith the Doctor) is 2 Feet, 4 Inches long; the Quill-part 5¾ Inches long, and 1½ Inch about in the largest Part. It weighed 3 dr. 17½ gr. and is of a dark brown Colour. Dr. Sloane in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 208.

To this Account, the Doctor, (in a Letter to Mr. Ray, March 31, 1694, with other Papers of Mr. Ray’s, in my Hands,) adds the Testimony of Jos. Acosta, l. 4. c. 7. and Garcilass. de la Vega, who l. 8. c. 19. saith, There are other Fowls, call’d Cuntur, and by the Spaniards corruptly Condor. Many of these Fowls having been kill’d by the Spaniards, had their Proportion taken, and from End to End of their Wings measured 15 or 16 Feet.——Nature, to temper and allay their Fierceness, deny’d them the Talons which are given to the Eagle; their Feet being tipp’d with Claws like a Hen: However, their Beak is strong enough to tear off the Hide, and rip up the Bowels of an Ox. Two of them will attempt a Cow or Bull, and devour him: And it hath often happened, that one of then alone hath assaulted Boys of ten or twelve Years of Age, and eaten them. Their Colour is black and white, like a Magpie. It is well there are but few of them; for if they were many, they would very much destroy the Cattle. They have on the forepart of their Heads, a Comb, not pointed like that of a Cock; but rather even, in the Form of a Razor. When they come to alight from the Air, they make such an humming Noise, with the fluttering of their Wings, as is enough to astonish, or make a Man deaf.