Ornithological and Other Oddities 



out like a duck or stork. On startling the 

 birds, their heads were seen to be drawn back 

 to the shoulders, while the neck fell below in 

 a regular loop, giving a most curious effect, 

 which is lost in species which have less length 

 of neck and more clothing for what they do 

 possess. Unfortunately, none of this kind of 

 vulture were easy to interview, for they were 

 much shyer than the rest. 



A gang of "dhomes," or native scavengers, 

 were at work in front of the boiling-vat, skinning 

 and cutting up the carcases as they were brought 

 in, and the overseer already mentioned was kind 

 enough to put a freshly-skinned carcase of a horse 

 at the disposal of the birds, in order to give us a 

 chance of seeing them feed in a more natural way 

 than on boiled bits. One would have expected 

 the birds to rush on this more appetising repast 

 at once ; but they mistrusted so much generosity, 

 and we had to stand off a little before they would 

 fall to. Then the horse disappeared under a 

 crowd of birds, there was a sound of " rugging 

 and riving," and in a marvellously short time it 

 was a clean-picked skeleton, showing that they 

 really did appreciate cheval au naturel. 



Overhead the kites were constantly wheeling 

 and circling, on the look-out for morsels suffi- 

 ciently small to be carried off for private 



consumption, for Milvus govinda, like Private 



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