598 REPTILES AND BIRDS, 
Lastly, tiiey are specially characterised by their partiality for putrid 
flesh, which almost forms their exclusive nutriment, as it is only 
rarely they attack living prey. 
When a Vulture has glutted itself, its crop, swelled by the food — 
which it has devoured, forms a voluminous projection in front of the 
neck ; a fetid humour oozes from its nostrils, and it remains sunk in 
a state of stupid torpor until the food is digested. 
They fly heavily, but mount aloft to great altitudes. Their 
powers of vision are extraordinary. Should a carcase be left on the 
plain, they immediately see it and drop down, turning over and over 
in their hurry to arrive at the scene of the anticipated banquet. It 
has been supposed by some that their olfactory organs are so acute as 
to smell, at great distances, the emanations which escape from bodies 
in a state of decomposition, and thus to account for their prompt 
attendance. Latterly, however, certain observers have opposed this 
theory ; according to their ideas the Vulture tribe owe this wonderful 
facility to their sight, not to scent. This explanation, however, has 
not as yet been rendered altogether clear. We therefore think it 
prudent to abstain from pronouncing an absolute judgment on the 
point, and will content ourselves by admitting that both sight and smell 
concur in producing the result : these two senses may either exercise 
an equal power, or one of them may predominate over the other. 
The Vultures exhale a putrid odour, which is owing to the peculiar 
nature of their nutriment ; it is, therefore, impossible for their flesh 
to be in any way utilised as food. This family comprises four 
principal genera : the Gypaétus, the Sarcoramphit, the Cathariste, and 
the LVeophrones. 
The Lammergeyer (Gyfaé/us barbatus) form, as their name indi- 
cates, an intermediate genus between the Eagles and the Vultures. 
Although they have small and goggle eyes, not very strong talons, 
and a projecting crop during the digestion of their meals, they are 
allied to the Eagles in virtue of their feathered tarsi, as well as by their 
head and neck; they also show a preference for living prey, which 
they attack with readiness. We will complete their portrait by 
stating that they have a very strong beak, enlarced towards the 
point. 
The Bearded Griffon is the celebrated Lammergeyer, described 
by Buffon under the name of the Golden Vulture. It owes its name 
to a tuft of stiff hair which is under the beak : the loftiest mountains 
of Europe, Asia, and Africa are its habitat. Its aerie, which is of 
considerable dimensions, is built amongst the most inaccessible 
rocks. On the old continent it is the largest of all the birds of 
