1922.] Sense of Smell /lossessed hij JJirds. 249 



eitlier never had, or wliicli is now lost to them. It is 

 undeniable tliat a food-finding sense exists in many insects ; 

 tliis may be taken as established, so why not in birds, or at 

 any rate in some birds ? We must not, however, allow 

 ourselves to be carried away by this alluring theory — a 

 theory which has been alluded to in discussing the Vulture 

 puzzle — to too great an extent. 



As for the Vultures, I have already dwelt upon the 

 difficulties which still beset that vexed question. The 

 behaviour of these carrion-eating birds has long been, and 

 still is, a matter of speculation, in spite of all which 

 Waterton and others have writtcMi. In this connection 

 Mr. Beck relates an incident which took place in Penn- 

 sylvania, which shall be given in his own words. 



At 9 A.M. on a frosty morning, on the 1st of January, 

 a dog, which was believed to have gone mad, was shot and 

 throw'U into a limestone sink-hole. The hole was six or 

 seven feet deep, with an opening of about three feet, the 

 shaft going down at an angle of 45 degrees, so that the 

 carcase of the dog was invisible from above. Three hours 

 after this was done Mr. Beck, who had been present when 

 the animal was killed, returned to the sink-hole, and as 

 he approached, two Vultures (^CatJiartes) climbed out and 

 flapped away, having apparently been at the dog some time, 

 for the flesh about its hums was much eaten. Here it is 

 difficult to account for the tintling of the carrion bv either 

 eye or nose, but a sixth sense, if there be such a thing, 

 solves the difficulty at once. 



We nee;l not go far from home to find examples of 

 behaviour very similar to what is here related of Mr. Beck's 

 Vultures. Such are the incidents which have from time to 

 time been put on record about the Kingfisher {Alcedo ispida) 

 and our fauiiliar Wood-pigeon {('olumha paluiithus). If a 

 piece of water be stocked with young trout, or any small 

 fry, most people will admit that the Kingfisher is pretty 

 sure to find it out, yet it is hardly conceivable that the fish 

 can be scented, although they might be seen. A case in 

 point is furnished by Mr. J. E. Harting in his "Birds of 



