Retrospective Criticism, 167 



Secondly, whether our vultures subsist on fresh as well as 

 putrid food? — On this head it was unnecessary to make 

 experiments ; it being a subject with which even the most 

 casual observer amongst us is well acquainted. It is well 

 known that the roof of our market-house is covered with these 

 birds early every morning, waiting for any little scrap of 

 fresh meat that may be thrown to them by the butchers. At 

 our slaughter-houses, the offal is quickly devoured by our 

 vultures, whilst it is yet warm from the recent death of the 

 slaughtered animal. I have seen the Fultur Aura a hundred 

 miles in the interior of this country, where he may be said to 

 be altogether in a state of nature, regaling himself on the en- 

 trails of a deer, which had been killed not an hour before. Two 

 years ago, Mr. H. Ward, who is now in London, and who 

 was in the employ of the Philosophical Society of this city, 

 was in the habit of depositing, at the foot of my garden (in 

 the suburbs of Charleston) the fresh carcasses of the birds he 

 had skinned, and in the course of half an hour both species 

 of vulture, particularly the Cath^rtes Aura, came and devoured 

 the whole. Nay, we discovered that vultures fed on the 

 bodies of those of their own species that had been thus 

 exposed. A few days ago, a vulture that had been killed by 

 some boys in the neighbourhood, and had fallen near the 

 place where we were performing our experiments, attracted, 

 on the following morning, the sight of a Cathartes Aura, which 

 commenced pulling off its feathers and feeding upon it. This 

 brought down two of the black vultures, who joined in the 

 repast. In this instance, the former chased away the two 

 latter to some distance; an unusual occurrence, as the black 

 vulture is the stronger bird, and generally keeps off the 

 other species. We had the dead bird covered with some 

 rice chaff, where it still remains undiscovered by the vultures. 



Thirdly, whether is the vulture attracted to its food by the 

 sense of smell or of sight ? — A number of experiments were 

 tried, to satisfy us on this head, and all led to the same re- 

 sult. A few of these I shall detail. 



1. A dead hare (iepus timidus), a pheasant (Phasianus 

 c61chicus),a kestrel (Falco TinnunculusZ/.), from a recent im- 

 portation, together with a wheel barrowful of offal from the 

 slaughter-pens, were deposited on the ground, in a retired 

 situation at the foot of my garden. A frame was raised above 

 it, at the distance of twelve inches from the earth. This was 

 covered with brushwood, allowing the air to pass freely 

 beneath it, so as to convey the effluvia far and wide; and 

 although fifteen days have now gone by, and the flesh has 

 become offensive, not a single vulture appears to have per- 



M 4 



