Song Birds and Water Fowl 
devil his due, so the buzzards can be heartily 
commended in one aspect of their life; for 
there is something immensely impressive in the 
sight of a large flock of these huge black creat- 
ures, with a spread of six feet as they fly, slowly 
gliding on motionless wing, high in the air, in 
magnificent circles, and at the same time the 
whole flock advancing. Tipping the body now 
this way and now that, they are borne aloft 
and along like enormous kites, and will cover 
immense distances—one writer says, two or 
three miles—without a single wing-beat. The 
eagles’ flight is grander; but one sees the 
eagle only alone or in pairs; and, in this re- 
spect, the view of a cloud of buzzards is more 
imposing. ‘They seemed to be gathering at 
their accustomed rendezvous on a neighboring 
shore, where I counted sixty, with many more 
in the air, and slowly settling. 
There is something phenomenal in their pow- 
er of smell, as they are able to detect carrion 
several miles away. We not infrequently hear 
people lament that their own senses are not as 
keen as those of the lower animals. But we 
know not what is good for us. Coleridge’s per- 
ception of over seventy distinct odors in Col- 
ogne, besides the one that has made the town 
194 
