Cj 2 Sayles o?i the Sense of Smell in Cathartes aura. [January 



are highly developed. Recognizing this fact in the anatomy of 

 the bird, there is yet very little evidence that the power is ever 

 used in the detection of food." 



He proceeds by referring to experiments made by Audubon, 

 Bachman, and Darwin. 



Audubon's experiments: — "•The perfectly dry, stuffed skin of a 

 common deer, placed in the attitude of death, attracted a vulture 

 \_Cathartes atratits\ within a few moments,. though there was 

 nothing eatable about it; after satisfying itself of which, by walk- 

 ing over it and tugging at it, the bird circled about over the field 

 until it espied a small snake, not thicker than a man's finger, upon 

 which it at once pounced. Moreover, a large and putrid carcass 

 of a hog carefully covered by canes and brush so as to be invisi- 

 ble, remained undiscovered by the vultures in spite of the intol- 

 erable stench it sent out, though they frequently passed by accident 

 quite near it, and the dogs at once discovered it. Yet a small, 

 freshly-killed pig hidden near the same place was at once traced 

 out by the vultures, by the blood which was allowed to run from 

 it as it was carried to its hiding place." 



"Bachman tried these tests, and added some new and perfectly 

 convincing ones. The rough painting of a sheep, skinned and 

 cut open, soon brought vultures to examine and tug at it, and 

 though the experiment was repeated scores of times, it never 

 failed, on each fresh exposure, to attract the hungry birds. A 

 wheelbarrow-load of tempting carrion was next covered by a 

 single sheet of thin canvas, above which bits of fresh meat were 

 strewn. The fresh meat was soon eaten, but, though the vul- 

 tures must have frequently had their bills within an eighth of an 

 inch of the carrion beneath, they did not discover it. 



"While at Valparaiso in 1834, Darwin experimented on 

 twentv or thirty condors which were kept in a garden at that 

 place. They were tied in a long row at the foot of the wall, each 

 bird by a single rope, and Darwin walked backward and forward 

 before them, at a distance of about ten feet, with a piece of fresh 

 meat in his hand, wrapped securely in a piece of white paper. 

 No notice whatever was taken of it by the birds. He then threw 

 it on the ground within a yard of an old male condor, who looked 

 at it carefully for a moment and paid no further attention. With 

 a stick it was pushed closer and closer, until he touched it at last 

 with his beak, when instantly the paper was torn off", while every 

 bird in the long row began struggling and flapping its wings." 



