VULTURES 57 



suffices that their wretched victim is too feeble to 

 harm them ; they then set to work to tear it to pieces, 

 utterly indifferent to its cries of agony. Such behaviour 

 is characteristic of all birds and beasts of prey. These, 

 in consequence, have been dubbed " cruel " by those 

 who should know better. Thus Bonner, in his " Forest 

 Creatures," writes : " Just as a child likes to enjoy 

 the consciousness of having possession of a cake, and 

 revels for a while in the pleasurable feeling before 

 taking the first bite, feeling sure that delay will not 

 weaken his tenure, so will an eagle very often toy 

 with his victim, and though within his grasp, defer 

 the fatal grip. At such times his appetite is probably 

 not very keen ; or he is in a merry humour and likes 

 the fun of seeing the terror he causes, as he races 

 in his mirth round and round the animal almost 

 paralysed with fear. Or perhaps there is somewhat 

 of a Caligula in his nature, and he considers that 

 the only true enjoyment which is purchased by the 

 acute suffering of others. Be this as it may, he will 

 thus dally with a creature's anguish, and only after 

 having twenty times swooped down as if to seize it in 

 his talons, do so in reality." 



To call such behaviour on the part of a bird of prey 

 cruel is, I submit, utterly wrong, and based on an 

 altogether incorrect perception of the animal mind. 

 It is my belief that vultures and other raptorial birds 

 do not recognise in the screams of their victims the 

 wails of pain. Their power of reasoning is not suf- 

 ficient to enable them to interpret the meaning of 

 these cries. How can they possibly know that they 



