428 A VES— VULTURE. 



It is from the character in which it is best known to them, as the spoiler 

 of the fold, that this bird has received from the natives of the German Alps 

 its title of lammergeyer, the lamb vulture. But although this is its food of 

 choice, it feeds also upon carrion ; and as when in pursuit of a living prey, it 

 emulates the eagles by soaring alone or in company only with its mate, so 

 in its attack upon an unburied carcass it imitates the vultures by congre- 

 gating in bands upon the spoil. In such circumstances it does not usually 

 descend from aloft, but sweeps slowly along the ground towards its expected 

 banquet. Bruce relates, in his Abyssinian Travels, a remarkable instance, 

 illustrative at once of its boldness and voracity. His servants were prepar- 

 ing for dinner on the summit of a lofty mountain, when a bearded vulture, 

 attracted by the smell of the goat's flesh, which they were cooking, slowly 

 made his advances towards the party, and at length fairly seated himself 

 within the ring which they had formed. The affrighted natives started up 

 and ran for their lances and shields ; and the bird, after an ineffectual 

 attempt to extract a portion of their meat from the boiling water, seized a 

 large piece in each of his talons from a platter that stood by, and carried it 

 off slowly along the ground as he came. After an interval of a few minutes, 

 the vulture returned for a second freight, but was shot by the traveller before 

 it could carry its purpose into effect. The manner of its flight in this 

 instance, as well as in many others, may be taken as an indication that this 

 species does not usually make its prey of birds, which it is rarely if ever 

 known to attack. 



Bruce remarks that on taking hold of this bird he Avas not a little surprised 

 to find his hands covered with a yellow powder, which appeared to be 

 produced from the breast feathers ; while those of the back and wings threw 

 off a similar dust, excepting that on them it was brown. He imagined that 

 this powder was contained in the tubes of the feathers, from which it was 

 emitted upon pressure ; and that it was a peculiar provision of nature to 

 enable the birds of those Alpine regions to withstand the rigors of the cli- 

 mate. It is more probable, however, that this appearance, which has not 

 been noticed by any other writer, was merely the result of the change of 

 plumage which the vulture had just undergone ; the powder in question 

 being in reality nothing more than the original pellicle of the feathers sepa- 

 rating from them in minute particles, as is usual when they have ootained 

 their perfect growth. 



