BIRDS OF PREY AND OWLS 



79 



horizon in vain for a sign of these birds, yet, should a camel from a caravan fall out and die, 

 or men fall in warfare, within an incredibly short space of time a crowd of vultures would be 

 squabbling over the dead. Some held that the vulture was guided by scent, others by sight, 

 and this latter view is now almost universall)' accepted. The bird's natural habit of soaring 

 at an immense height enables it to survey not only immense tracts of country, but the 

 actions of its neighbours soaring at the same altitude, though perhaps miles away. So soon 

 as one descries food it betrays tlie fact by its actions, making off in the direction of the 

 prospective feast; it is then followed immediately by its yet more distant neighbour, and this 

 by a third, and so the first serves as a guide to all the other soaring birds for miles around. 



This flight has been admirably expressed by Long- 

 fellow in " Hiawatha." 



We need here mention only one or two of the 

 more important species of vulture, and among these 

 one of the most interesting is the Lammergeir, or 

 BKARnED Vulture. This species is one of the least 

 \ulture-like of the tribe, not only in general appear- 

 ance, but also in habits, and is to be regarded as 

 near the ancestral stock, whose descendants have 

 become more and more addicted to feeding upon 

 dead bodies. 



The lammergeir, or bearded vulture, is a bird 

 of large size and majestic flight, differing from all 

 other \ultures in that the head and neck are clothed 

 in feathers, whilst the nostrils are covered by long 

 bristles. Beneath the bill hangs a tuft of bristles 

 like those covering the nostrils ; hence its name of 

 Bearded Vulture ; and this, coupled with a remarkable 

 red rim to the e\es, gives the bird an almost diabolical 

 appearance. It lives partly upon living animals and 

 partly upon carrion, bones apparently being especially 

 relished ; these it breaks by dropping them from a 

 height upon the rocks below, probably to get at the 

 marrijw. Land-tortoises are treated in a similar 

 manner, and it was possibly this species which 

 caused the death of the poet ^-Eschylus, on whose 

 bare head a tortoise is alleged to have been dropped. 

 It was at one time common in Europe, and is still 

 fairly numerous in West Africa, though rare in the 

 East and South. Many stories are told of its 

 strength and daring, some of which concern the 

 carrying off of young children; but these are prob- 

 ably mythical, modern observers generally agreeing that the bird is by nature far from 

 courageous. 



The more typical vultures differ from the lammergeir in having the head and neck more 

 or less bare, and often conspicuously coloured, or covered with a short velvety down. The 

 Cinereous, GRiFP-ON,Po.\L)lCHERRV,and Egyptian Vultures maybe cited as examples of these. 

 The Cinereous or Black Vulture is a heavy and repulsive-looking bird, feeding entirely 

 on garbage. On the wing, however, this vulture shares with its relatives the admiration of all 

 who have befen privileged to watch it; sailing in graceful circles in the blue sky of the tropics, 

 or hurrying from all quarters of the compass to some ghoulish feast, it forms a spectacle, once 

 seen, never to be forgotten. It is found on both sides of the Mediterranean, and extends 

 eastwards to India and China. 



BEARDED VULTURE 



// is called the Bearded l^ulture on account of the tuft of 

 hristUi hanging from the chin 



