The books they have left behind them fully prove my assertion; and I believe that their accounts of the Mexican and Peruvian nations, whom they subdued, are not a whit less exaggerated than their stories about the condor.

Three centuries could not have so completely swept away the vestiges of such a civilisation as they describe--leaving scarcely a trace of it to attest the truth of their assertions.

It is true, that in these countries are to be found monuments of a high state of civilisation; but these were in ruins long previous to the discovery of the Spaniards; and the feeble races who submitted so easily to the latter, knew no more about the builders of these monuments than we do.
The same vestiges of a civilised people are found in the deserts of North America; and yet the Spanish writers can tell nothing of them, farther than that they existed at the period of the discovery just as they are now." "How many kinds of vultures are there in America ?" inquired Francois, whose mind ran more upon the present than the past; and who, as we have already hinted, was a great boy for birds.
"There are five species well-known," replied Lucien; "and these are so different from each other that there is no difficulty in distinguishing them.

These species form two genera--_Sarco ramphus_ and _Cathartes_.
The _Sarcoramphs_ have a fleshy protuberance over the beak--hence the generic name, which is a compound of two Greek words, signifying _flesh_, and _beak_ or _bill_.

The _Cathartes_, or `purging-vultures,' derive their name from a singular habit--that of throwing up their food again, not only when feeding their young, but also when providing for one another during the period of incubation.
"The condor is a true _Sarcoramph_--in fact, one of the most marked features of this bird is the fleshy cartilaginous crest that surmounts his head and part of his beak.