80 Mr. H. M. Wallis on the Birds 



before had been slowly describing circles in the blue vault 

 overhead, as small as dor-beetles, came dropping down by twos 

 and threes until the little green patch around the carcass 

 seemed paved wdth drab backs ; each new arrival folding its 

 wide wings and changing instantly from the most graceful 

 to the most awkward of creatures. 



Griffon etiquette seemed to prescribe that one should feed 

 forj say, three minutes, whilst the rest awaited their turns, 

 sitting around humped in attitudes of attention. The order 

 of the feast was disturbed by the inrush of a great white 

 cMen de moniagne, looking like a bleached St. Bernard, 

 before the onset of which the birds rose as lightly as a puff of 

 feathers^ timing their departure to a nicety. When the dog 

 retired the original party, strengthened by new arrivals, 

 settled hurriedly to make up for lost time^ and man- 

 ners went to the winds. Two Griffons would fight and 

 scuttle around one after another at the run or with ungainly 

 hopping, assisted by half-open wings, cuffing and dodging. 

 Whilst this went on the Ravens got a beak in, only to be 

 instantly flapped off by the four-foot-long pinion like a 

 flail. It was like a fowl-run at feeding-time, and meanwhile, 

 close over the heads of the mob of Griffons, the Bearded 

 Vultures were drifting in little figures of eight, buoyant as 

 floating gossamers, sometimes taking a wider turn and kissing 

 and caressing on the wing. I think these wei-e all young 

 birds, with dark brown heads and necks. Their coarse dull 

 plumage reflects no sunlight, and by contrast the Griffon's 

 upper parts looked white. 



One could hardly have had a better opportunity for com- 

 paring the shapes and actions of the two species. The 

 Griffon sails but seldom flaps ; his immensely broad square- 

 cut wings are set forward at the same angle as an Eagle's or 

 Buzzard's, i. e. a line drawn from tip to tip would pass clear 

 of the beak to the eye of an observer directly beneath. The 

 wings seem almost as flat and as rigid as the sails of a mill 

 and bounded by the same right lines. So deep are the 

 secondaries that the short square-cut tail projects but little, 

 hardly breaking the line of the wings as the bird wheels. 



