2 VULTURIim 



Vultur fulvus, Fulvous Vulture, HARVEY, Fauna of Cork, p. 4. 



Griffon Vulture, THOMPSON, Annals of Nat. Hist. vol. xv. 



art. 31 ; and Birds of Ireland. 



VULTUR. Generic Characters. Beak strong, thick and deep, base co- 

 vered with a cere; upper mandible straight until it reaches the point, 

 where it is hooked abruptly ; under mandible straight, rounded, and be- 

 coming narrower towards the point. Head naked or covered with short 

 down. Nostrils naked and pierced diagonally in the cere. Feet very 

 strong, furnished with claws slightly hooked ; the middle toe very long, 

 and united at the base to the external toe. Wings long ; the first quill- 

 feather short, the fourth the longest. 



THE BRITISH BIRDS in this History will be divided into 

 five principal orders, in accordance with the views of mo- 

 dern systematic Ornithologists, more particularly those of 

 this country. The first of these orders, the RAPTORES, or 

 Birds of Prey, as they are usually called, includes three 

 families, the Vultures, the Falcons, and the Owls ; and 

 although the Vultures are commonly confined to the more 

 tropical countries of the Old and of the New World, the 

 capture of two examples of different species, one in Ire- 

 land, and the other in England, entitle them to a notice in 

 this work. 



Vultures are most numerous in warm countries, where 

 a high degree of temperature induces rapid decomposition. 

 Their food is chiefly animal substance in a decaying state, 

 and their business in nature, as observed by Mr. Vigors, 

 is to clear away with rapidity those putrefying remains 

 which, if allowed to accumulate, might produce pestilence 

 and death. The same services rendered to man by nu- 

 merous Storks in the cities of India, and by troops of 

 dogs in Constantinople, are performed on a much more 

 extended scale by Vultures. So valuable are these ser- 

 vices, that Vultures are almost universally protected from 

 molestation or injury either by local legislation or by com- 

 mon consent. Great powers of smell have been attributed 

 to them; and it appears certain that they possess also 



