46 THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



Seldom do rapacious birds associate with each other ; yet still there is no reason for 

 regarding them, as some naturalists have done, as consequently gloomy and mistrustful. 

 We sjTnpathise, on the contrary, with the question that has been proposed : — " "Wliat 

 cause has an eagle, rejoicing in his strength, and winging his way from distant i.sles o'er 

 waters glittering with redundant Life, or hovering on the side of some majestic mountain^ 

 of which the purjjle heath is one wide storehouse of the best of game — what cause has he 

 for gloom ? Or wlij^ should he mistrust, whose sail-broad vans might almost carry him 

 across the vast Atlantic, or, assuredly, in a few brief hours, transport him from his bold 

 but barren e3a'ie to richer pastures, reverberating with the varied voices of defenceless 

 flocks ?" Happiness is largely diffused among the feathered tribes, and we see not why 

 it shoidd be withheld from the faloon or the eagle, any more than from the goldfinch or 

 the linnet. 



Usually the birds of pi-cy may be said to dwell in single pairs, and, at times, in 

 solitude. Precipitous rocks, ancient ruins, and occasionally forest trees, are tlie sites of 

 their rude nests, while a few take up their stations on the ground. Seldom do they lay 

 more than four eggs ; manj^ only rear a pair of young, which are at first extremely 

 helpless, and covered for a time with down. In the generality of species, the females are 

 considerably larger than the males. The plumage of the sexes often differs greatly, and 

 in such instances the offspring, for one or more seasons, resembles the mother bird. The 

 voice is almost always harsh and unmusical ; it is sometimes more plaintive in the hooting 

 kinds, complaining by night from ivy-mantled tower or aged tree ; but onlj' one species, 

 a hawk from Africa, has ever been said to sing. 



The Famii^y placed first in the Order of rapacious birds is that of the Vui.turid.e, or 

 Vultures. 



Of aU the characters drawn from the anterior portion of the body in the vultui'c tribe, 

 the most distinct is tlie greater or less degree of nudity of the head and nock. Their 

 front is inclined, half horizontal ; and on flic ground, to wliich they are much attached, 

 their wings arc pendant, and the tail is trailed along, so that the ends of the pen-feathers 

 are constantly worn. Their flight is heavy, and they have considerable difRcultj^ in 

 taking their fidl soar. They arc the only birds of prey that live and fly gregariously. 



Vultures rarely attack li^'ing animals, unless they cannot satiate themselves on dead 

 bodies. The hawks, fiilcons, and even the smallest birds of the same order, hunt their 

 prey alone, almost all of them reject corrupted flesii, and disdaiu tliat wliich is dead. 

 But Aniltures will attack a solitary enemy by numbers, and tear carcasses even to the very 

 bone. Endowed with a sense of smell which is extraordinarily acute, the odour of 

 corrupted ilcsh attracts ^Tlltul'es from a considei'able distance. Flocks of tliem fly 

 towards the prey, and all the species, like a savage horde, are admitted indiscriminatclj^ 

 to tlie banquet. When pressed with hunger, they will descend near the habitations of 

 men, and, like the fox among quadrupeds, commit ravages on tlie timid and defenceless 

 tenants of the poultry-yard. 



The vultures are more numerous in the southern than in the northern parts of the 

 globe. They do not, liowever, dread flic cold, and seek warmth in preference ; for in oui' 

 part of the world, they live in the greatest numbers on the highest mountains, and 

 only rarely descend into the plains. 



