212. BIRDS

practical purposes. They did not dart upwards or
downwards, but rose rather slowly ; and, when they
had attained their usual height, maintained themselves
at it by nearly imperceptible movements of the wings,
and floated, balancing themselves in the air, turning
to this or that side, gradually descending ; and then,
by a few leisurely strokes, regained their former level,
continuing to float and circle in this manner by the
hour together. We did not either when upon or in
the neighbourhood of the summits of Chimborazo and
Antisana, or near the summits of any other mountains,
see a condor in our vicinity upon a single occasion,
and I think never observed one so high as 16,000 feet.
I believe Humboldt to have been mistaken in sup-
posing that he often saw the bird soaring above all
the summits of the Andes. Anyone, however skilled
in judging distances, may be deceived in such a matter.
It is an undoubted fact that condors frequent the sea-
shore in more southern parts of South America.
Whether the same individual birds also soar to great
heights, and are specifically the same as the condor of
the equator, are questions that I am unable to answer.
If there are no marked points of difference between
them, it will be ascertained that this species has a
range in altitude of about 16,000 feet (not in any one
country, but spread over thirty degrees of latitude),
and this is perhaps the greatest that is possessed by
any bird.’

The distances birds travel are enormous. Many
of our summer migrants journey to the African
lakes and beyond—the little willow wren, for instance,
being found as far south as Mashonaland. How they