HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



307 



CALIFORNIA VULTURE. 



which does, and this is against the common notion of 

 the acuteness of their scent. Indeed the foetid dis 

 tillation from their own nostrils is a pretty strong 

 argument against their smelling power ; a man with 

 his nose constantly bathed in assafoetida would not be 

 in the best condition for finding roses by the scent. 

 " Their voracity," says the lamented David Douglas, 

 " is almost insatiable, and they are extremely ungene 

 rous, suffering no other animal to approach them 

 while feeding. After eating they become so sluggish 

 and indolent as to remain in the same place, until 

 urged by hunger to go in quest of another repast. 

 At such times they perch on decayed trees, with 

 their heads so much retracted as to be with difficulty 

 observed through the long, loose, lanceolate feathers 

 of the collar ; the wings at the same time hang down 

 over the feet. This position they invariably preserve 



