THE VULTURES 107 



grass and wear the ground into dust; they contend over 

 choice bits, and hiss and fight as they revel. 



When satisfied they sit about in the trees and pick their 

 feathers. Some of the more gluttonous will at times 

 become so loaded down with much eating, that when at- 

 tempting to take wing they are obliged to run and flop 

 along the ground for many yards before being able to rise. 

 Black vultures will sometimes become so gorged with car- 

 rion that for a time they are totally unable to fly, and may 

 easily be captured. 



Other hungry beings also gather at the same place to 

 feed. Sometimes the great bald eagle may be seen wheeling 

 about in majestic circles, or if far enough south, the cara- 

 cara eagle may be sighted. At night the half starved dogs 

 of the neighborhood may sneak and snarl about and gnaw 

 at the putrefying limbs of the beast. For some days the 

 vultures stay by the carcass and desert the spot only when 

 nothing further can be gleaned. 



It is said that ravens will gather about a sick and solitary 

 animal and grimly wait for death, in order that they may 

 be on hand to feast when the end comes. The actions of a 

 flock of black vultures which I once watched has made 

 me think that these birds at times have the same habit. 

 While riding through a thick forest far back in a southern 

 wilderness. I came one day upon a small lake the line of 



