CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



In the family Vultnridce (Vultures) the eyes are 

 destitute of an eyebrow, and the head and neck 

 are either naked or covered with a short down. 

 Their food consists chiefly of dead carcasses and 

 offal, with which they often gorge themselves to 

 such an extent that they are reduced to stupidity. 

 In hot climates, they are of great service in con- 

 suming putrefying bodies, which would othenvise 

 infect the air. No sooner is an animal dead, than 

 its carcass is surrounded by numbers of these 

 birds, which suddenly appear, coming from all 

 quarters, in situations where immediately before 

 not one had been seen. The Bearded Vulture 

 (Gypaetus barbatus), or Lammergeyer of the Swiss 



Lammergeyer (Gypaetus barbatus). 



and German Alps, the largest of the European 

 birds of prey, measures nine or ten feet in the 



Secretary Bird (Serpentarius secretarius). 



expanse of its wings. It feeds upon goats, sheep, 

 &c. which it kills by precipitating them down 



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steep declivities. The Griffon, or Golden Vulture 

 ( V. rinereus\ is also common in the Alps. These 

 species differ from the true Vultures in having 

 the head and neck feathered. 



The Condor (Sarcoramphus), the king of the 

 Vulture tribe, is peculiar to the Andes. The ex- 

 tent of its wings when expanded is from ten to- 

 twelve feet Borne on these wide-spread pinions, 

 the Condor ascends higher than any other bird, 

 being sometimes found at an elevation of io,oco 

 or 1 5,000 feet above the level of the ocean. The 

 Common Secretary Vulture (Serpentariits secre- 

 tarius) of the Cape of Good Hope and the 

 Philippine Islands, derives its name of Secretary 

 from the feathers at its ear presenting the appear- 

 ance of a pen. Its neck and legs are much 

 lengthened, and it subsists upon poisonous reptiles, 

 hence its generic name. The Neophron Percnop- 

 terus, or Egyptian Vulture, which is common in 

 the northern part of Africa, subsists entirely upon 

 carrion. 



ORDER 8. Saurnrce. This order includes only 

 the extinct bird, the Archcsopteryx macrura, the 



Remains of Archaopteryx in Solenhofen Stone. 



remains of which were found in the lithographic 

 Solenhofen slate (Upper Oolite). It was about 

 the size of a rook, and differed from all known 

 birds in having twenty caudal vertebrae, each of 

 which supported a pair of quill-feathers, and in 

 having two free claws belonging to each wing. 



CLASS V. MAMMALIA, OR SUCK-GIVING ANIMALS. 



The Mammalia are universally regarded as the 

 highest group in the Animal Kingdom ; because 

 they possess the most complex organisation, 

 adapted to perform the greatest number and 

 variety of actions, and to execute these with the 



