Faculty of Scefit in the Vulture, 239 



hawks intensely, when they have been so high that they 

 appeared a mere speck in the azure vault ; still, when at such 

 a great height, I have never been able in one single instance 

 to see them descend upon their prey, during the many years 

 in which I have observed them. But, on the other hand, 

 when birds of prey are in quest of food, I have always seen 

 them fly at a very moderate height over the woods and meads, 

 and strike their victim with the rapidity of lightning. Thus, 

 the kestrel hovers at so comparatively short a distance from 

 the earth, that he is enabled to drop down upon a mouse, 

 and secure it as quick as thought. Thus the merlin and 

 sparrowhawk, a little before dark, shoot past you when you 

 are watching behind a tree, with inconceivable velocity, and 

 snatch away the unsuspecting bunting from the hedge. But 

 when food seems not to be the object, especially about the 

 breeding season, you may observe the windhovers rising in 

 majestic evolutions to a vast altitude ; but, if you watch till 

 your eyes ache, you will never see them descend upon their 

 prey from this immense height : indeed, the great distance to 

 which they rise would operate much against them in their 

 descent to seize their food. For example, suppose a mouse 

 to be on the ground, exactly under a hawk, which hawk is so 

 high up that its appearance to the observer's eye is not larger 

 than that of a lark, how is the hawk to take the mouse ? If it 

 descend slowly, the wary mouse would have time to get into 

 its hole ; if the hawk come down rapidly, the noise it causes 

 in darting through the expanse would be a sufficient warning 

 to the mouse to get out of the way. In order to have a pro- 

 per idea of the noise which the descent of the bird would 

 cause, we have only to listen to a rook in the act of what the 

 peasants call shooting, and which, by the by, they always 

 consider as a sign of coming wind; though, in fact, it can 

 easily be accounted for without any aid from conjecture. It 

 might here be asked, for what object, then, do many birds of 

 prey rise to such an amazing height in the sky ? I answer, 

 I know not. Why does the lark mount so high, and sing 

 all the time ? Flis female and other listeners on the ground 

 would hear him more distinctly and clearly, were he to pour 

 forth his sweet and vernal notes nearer to them.* 



But to return to the vulture. After the repeated observ- 

 ations I have made in the country where it abounds, I am 



* " Is it for thee the lark ascends and sings ? 

 Joy tunes his voice, joy elevates his wings. 

 Is it for thee the linnet pours his throat ? 

 Loves of his own and raptures swell the note." 



Pope's Essay on Jllan, epistle iii. — J. D. 



