THE TURKEY BUZZARD. 591 



turbance to the bird, till the surplus is vomited up, thus en- 

 abling it to fly. There is good evidence, however, that it 

 does not resort to carrion, when its capacious stomach can 

 be appeased with a sufficient quantity of better flavored 

 flesh. Moreover, its filthy feeding, under the ravenous 

 necessities of hunger, renders it invaluable, in the warmer 

 zones of its habitat, as a scavenger. 



Notwithstanding the interesting experiments of Audubon, 

 there is good evidence of the olfactory capacity of this as 

 of all the rest of the Vultures. The nerves of smell are 

 well developed. It is probable, however, that in seeking 

 their supplies of food at a distance, they are guided by the 

 eye much more than by the sense of smell. There is much 

 force in the words of Job: ''There is a path which no fowl 

 knoweth, and which the Vulture's eye hath not seen." '' The 

 Vulture," says Tristram, ''can detect the path of a wounded 

 deer from a height where it can itself be descried by no 

 human eye. The process is probably this: The Griffon- 

 vulture,* which first detects the quarry, descends from his 

 elevation at once; another, sweeping the horizon at a still 

 greater distance, observes his neighbor's movements, and 

 follows his course; a third, still farther removed, follows 

 the flight of the second; he is traced by another, and thus 

 a perpetual succession is kept up, so long as a morsel of 

 flesh remains over which to consort. Thus, on great battle- 

 fields, and during sieges, as at that of Sebastopol, immense 

 numbers of Vultures were congregated in a few hours, 

 ^vhere the bird was comparatively scarce before. During 

 the Crimean war, the whole race from the Caucasus and 

 Asia Minor seemed to have collected to enjoy so unwonted 

 an abundance. The Arabs of North Africa declare that 

 at that time very few 'Nissi' (Vultures) were seen in their 



♦This an abundant species in Palestine. 



