THE VULTURE. in 



merit, by the voracity with which they devour the most offen- 

 sive carrion, the name of Scavengers in some countries, where 

 they are never destroyed, in consequence of the good they do, 

 by consuming the bodies of animals that might, but for the 

 assistance of the Vultures, breed a pestilence in the hot climates 

 where they most abound. A traveller in Africa having killed 

 two buffaloes, and directed his party to cut them up piecemeal, 

 and hang the various joints on the branches round their tents, 

 that they might be dried up under the scorching beams of 

 a burning sun, found himself suddenly surrounded by a flight 

 of these birds, who actually carried off the flesh, notwith- 

 standing the efforts made to drive away or destroy them by 

 shouting, throwing, or even shooting at them. As fast as one 

 dropped, another supplied his place. Another English traveller, 

 who marched for some days with an army in Abyssinia, in a 

 different part of Africa, speaks of their numbers as to be 

 compared to the sand of the sea, extending over the troops 

 like a black cloud ; they were also more courageous than some 

 other species ; for he once saw one strike an Eagle to the 

 ground which had accidentally straggled into a host of Vultures, 

 assembled to feed on the dead soon after a battle. 



They are, however, sometimes more dainty in their choice 

 of food ; as in Egypt, where, during the season when crocodiles 

 and alligators lay their eggs in the sand, these cunning birds 

 will sit, hid in the leaves of the trees, watching the females 

 coming on shore to lay their eggs, which, when laid, they 

 cover carefully with, sand, thinking, no doubt, that they are 

 thus safe from all danger, and sure to be hatched in regular 

 course of time by the warmth of the soil, heated as it is by 

 the sun ; but no sooner do they retire, than the concealed birds 

 glide down, and with claws, wings, and beak, tear away the 

 sand, and quickly devour the hidden treasures. 



Naturalists are a good deal divided as to the faculty by 

 which these birds are enabled to discover, in a most surprising 

 manner, a dead or dying animal at the distance of even many 

 miles. 



In travelling over the immensely wide deserts of Africa, 



