280 Rev. H. B. Tristram 071 the 



foot-sore had to be slaughtered on the spot, and his burden dis- 

 tributed among the others. Our attendants selected the tenderest 

 morsels for * kouskous/ the Arab broth ; and it was not till the 

 next morning that a vulture scented, or rather descried, his prey. 

 That the Vultux*e uses the organ of sight rather than that of 

 smell, seems to be certain from the immense height at which he 

 soars and gyrates in the air. In this instance one solitary bird 

 descended, and half an hour afterwards was joined by a second. 

 A short time elapsed, and the Nubian Vulture {Otogyps nubicits) 

 appeared, self-invited, at the feast ; and before the bones were left 

 to the Hysena, no less than nine Griffons and two Nubians had 

 broken their fast. I should hesitate to assert that they had satis- 

 fied their appetites. I have observed the same regular succession 

 of diners-out on other occasions. May we not conjecture that 

 the process is as follows ? — The Griffon who first descries his 

 quarry descends from his elevation at once. Another, sweeping 

 the horizon at a still greater distance, observes his neighbour's 

 movements and follows his course. A third, still further re- 

 moved, follows the flight of the second ; he is traced by another; 

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

 flesh remains over which to consort. I can conceive no other 

 mode of accounting for the numbers of vultures which in the 

 course of a few hours will gather over a carcase, when previously 

 the horizon might have been scanned in vain for more than one, 

 or at the most two, in sight. Does not this explain the im- 

 mense number of vultures who were congregated in the Crimea 

 during the siege of Sebastopol, where the bird was compa- 

 ratively scarce before ? May not this habit of watching the 

 movements of theii* neighbours have collected the whole race 

 from the Caucasus and Asia Minor to enjoy so unwonted an 

 abundance ? The Arabs believe that the vultures from all North 

 Africa were gathered to feed on Russian horses in the Crimea, 

 and declare that during the war very few ' Nissr^ were to be 

 seen in their accustomed haunts. 



The Griffon, however disgusting his food, is by no means an 

 unamiable or disgusting bird. He is certainly cleanly in his 

 habits, docile, and of remarkable intelligence. With his fellows 

 he IS good-tempered ; and, voracious as he is, never grudges to 



