XX 



VULTURES, EAGLES, ETC. 



" Never stoops the soaring vulture 

 On his quarry in the desert, 

 But another vulture watching, 

 Sees the downward plunge and follows." 



Hiawatha. 



11 As an eagle pursuing 

 A dove to its ruin 

 Down the streams of the cloudy wind." 



SHELLEY. 



IN Calcutta, gardens are often visited by vultures, 

 eagles and hawks of several kinds. Until I made the 

 acquaintance of a pair of most lovable condors, I 

 certainly never felt inclined to make pets of birds 

 like vultures, and very few people are likely to 

 welcome such visitors, but any annoyance arising 

 from their occasional presence in a garden is more 

 than made good by the magnificent spectacle of 

 their flight. Whilst sailing and soaring far aloft in 

 the upper sky they are truly splendid objects, as they 

 hang about, to all appearance motionless, or sweep 

 round in magnificent curves that look as though they 



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