I 



VULTURES. 33 



third ; she alone hatches the brood, and probably, finds 

 the occasional necessity of defending them from her un- 

 feeling mate. 



This order of birds are well distinguished by their short, 

 robust bill, compressed at its sides, and curved towards 

 its extremity ; the upper mandible is also covered at its 

 base by a particular coating called the cere. The nos- 

 trils are open. The feet strong, short, or of middling 

 length, feathered to the knees, or sometimes down to the 

 toes. The toes are three before, and one behind, all 

 equally touching the ground, and wholly divided, or 

 united at the base by a membrane ; the sole is rough, to 

 assist in holding the animals on which they feed, and 

 more remarkably so in those which live on fish, and re- 

 quire this additional aid to retain their slippery prey. 

 The toes are armed with powerful, sharp, retractile, and 

 curved nails. 



VULTURES. 



These are ignoble, cowardly, and gregarious birds, generally con- 

 fined to mild or warm climates, where, feeding on unburied carcases 

 and filth, they render an important service to man, and in the South- 

 ern parts of the United States they are consequently protected from 

 destruction by law. They sometimes also prey upon small living 

 animals, reptiles, and the eggs of birds. They are exceedingly indo- 

 lent, and in their mean and disgusting figure, slovenly attitude, 

 fcEtid scent, and heavy gait, they are strikingly distinguished from 

 those birds of rapine which give a preference to living animals, and 

 seize their prey by stratagem or strength. In the conformation of 

 their feet and claws, they are destitute of that powerful armature 

 which is peculiar to the other rapacious birds ; they are unable to 

 make use of these members either in attacking or conveying their 

 prey, which must consequently be consumed on the spot. Their 

 head and neck wholly naked, or partially clothed with a woolly 

 down, is small compared with the size of the body, and the lat- 

 ter is frequently long and slender. Although their flight is slow, 



