130 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



seemed to be in equal numbers. In Upper Egypt the 

 former greatly preponderated. Hasselquist notices their part 

 in Nature's scheme as follows : — 



" The inhabitants of Egypt cannot be enough thankful to Provi- 

 dence for this bird. All the places round Cairo are filled with the 

 dead bodies of asses and camels ; and thousands of these birds fly 

 about and devour the carcases before they putrefy, and fill the air 

 with noxious exhalations" (I.e.). 



That the celerity with which Vultures find dead animals 

 is marvellous, is true ; but I am of opinion that in nearly 

 every case they are guided by their acute vision. 



I never could understand how they managed to soil their 

 backs, for that part never was pure white, which I presume 

 it ought to be naturally. 



5. Short-toed Eagle, Circaetus gallims (Gm.). 



I had long had a keen wish to get this large Eagle, and 

 as I was returning from Quail shooting, on the 20th of 

 March, at Erment, I was lucky enough to make a very long 

 shot at one with a wire cartridge. Perhaps it was the same 

 which had waited over us in the lentils, so high up that it 

 looked like a Goshawk, with every bar perceptible in that 

 clear atmosphere. I have no doubt it had killed the four 

 snakes which we found lying together in a field close by. 

 For what reason it brought them together, or whether it left 

 them to watch us, I cannot divine. It seemed to take a 

 great interest in our Quail-shooting, but I never saw it 

 attempt to catch one. It proved to be a female, as I ex- 

 pected from its large size, for it measured twenty-six inches 

 in length, and five feet seven inches in expanse. Its stomach 

 only contained a frog. Legs, stone-colour ; weight, 3f lbs. ; 

 eye, light yellow, but very bright ; pupil small ; head dis- 

 proportionately large. 



