412 AVES-GRIFFON VULTURE. 



ORDER I.— RAPACE S. 



Birds of this order have the bill short and strong; upper mandible cover- 

 ed at its base by a membrane or cere, compressed on the sifles and ho /^ed 

 towards its extremity; nostrils open; legs strong, muscular, short or 

 medium length, feathered to the knee or toes ; toes three before and one 

 behind, divided, or united at the base by a membrane, rough below, armed 

 with poAverful claws, sharp, retractile, and hooked. Nearly all these birds 

 live on animal food ; the females are always larger than the males. The 

 number of their eggs seldom exceeds *four. 



THE FULVOUS, OR GRIFFON VULTURE.* 



This noble species of vulture, which is one of the largest birds of prey 

 of the Old Continent, measuring from three feet and a half to four feet in 

 length, and more than twice as much in the expanse of its wings, is found 

 on the lofty mountain chains of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is not uncom- 

 mon during the summer, in the Alps and Pyrenees ; but it is said to retreat 

 in winter, to the north of Africa, extending itself, according to Le Vaillant, 

 to the Cape of Good Hope. 



The nest of the griffon vulture, is formed in the clefts of rocks. It lays 

 from two to four eggs, which are of a grayish white, with numerous spot? 



1 Vidtur fulvus, Lin. The genus Vultur has the bill thick and short, deeper than 

 broad ; its base covered by a cere ; upper mandible straight, bent towards the point ; un- 

 der mandible straight, rounded, and inclined at the point ; head naked, or covered with a 

 short down; nostrils naked, lateral, opening diagonally towards the edge of the cere; 

 legs strong, furnished with slightly bent claws ; the middle toe largest, and united with 

 the exterior one at the base. 



Of the characters the most obvious, is the absence of feathers to a greater or less extent 

 on the head and neck, a mark of distinction which, like all the rest, is closely connected 

 with the habits of the birds. Thus a falling off, or thinning of the feathers, is the frequent 

 result of feeding upon flesh, especially when in a state of decay. The barrenness of these 

 parts in the vultures, enables them, moreover, to burrow in the putrid carcasses on which 

 they prev, without risk of soiling their plumage. 



Their largely extended nostrils, and the great internal developement of these organs, 

 would seem to be of manifest use in guiding the vultures to their prey, which they are 

 generally believed to scent from a great distance. It has, however, been lately main- 

 tained by a most acute observer of the habits of birds, Mr Audubon, that this belief, 

 which has been entertained from the earliest antiquity, is founded in error, and that the 

 vultures are directed to their prey by sight alone ; the lofty pitch at which they fly, and 

 the surpassing excellence of their vision, enabling them to detect it at an a'.most incon- 

 ceivable distance. Several of the experiments brought forward by that gentleman, in 

 support of his hypothesis, appear at first sight almost decisive of the question. But we 

 cannot consent to abandon the received opinion, corroborated as it is to the fullest extent, 

 by the anatomical structure of the organs of smell, until repeated experiments shall have 

 placed the fact beyond the possibility of doubt. 



It is almost unnecessary to point out the great utility of the strong, deep curved bill 

 of most of the vultures in tearing to pieces the carcasses on which they feed and consign 

 ing them in large masses to their maws. The nakedness of their legs may be regarded 

 as dependent on the same causes, and serving the same purposes as that of their hrads 

 and necks. 



