THE VULTURE 



41 



agree in their nature ; being equally indolent, 

 ^et rapacious and unclean. 1 



The GOLDEN VULTURE seems to be the fore- 

 most of the kind ; and is, in many things, like 



they expose the dead body of a horse or a cow, by which 

 some of the condors, which are generally hovering in 

 the air in search of food, are speedily attracted. As 

 soon as the birds have glutted themselves on the carcass, 

 the Indians make their appearance, armed with the 

 lasso, and the condors, being unable to escape by flight, 

 are pursued and caught by means of these singular 

 weapons with the greatest certainty. This sport is a 

 peculiar favourite in the country, where it is held in 

 a degree of estimation second to that of a bull-fight 

 alone. 



1 The great family of vultures is extensively spread 

 throughout the globe, but especially abounds in the hotter 

 latitudes, where their utility in removing carrion and 

 all putrid animal substances, from the fields, the villages, 

 and even the towns, has been universally acknowledged. 

 As we recede from the hotter climes to the more 

 temperate regions, we gradually lose the presence of the 

 vultures, till at length the boundaries of the race are 

 passed. Their extreme boundaries, however, are more 

 northerly, or rather are carried out more nearly to the 

 higher latitudes of the globe than might at first be sus- 

 pected. In America the turkey vulture (cathartes aura) 

 ranges from Terra del Fuego to Nova Scotia, and the 

 black vulture (cathartes atratatus) is common in Caro- 

 lina. Species are found in southern and central Europe, 

 without reckoning the lammer-geyer (gypactos berbatus) 

 which forms a connecting link between the timid, in- 

 dolent, and gluttonous vultures on the one hand, and the 

 fierce, rapacious eagles on the other, we may enumerate 

 the vultur cinereus and the griffon, or vultur fulvus, 

 both of which occur in the mountain chains of even cen- 

 tral Europe, and are tolerably common in the southern 

 districts, being spread over most parts of the old world. 

 To these we may add the Egyptian vulture, or Pharaoh's 

 chicken (neophron percnopterus.) 



The genus neophron may be regarded as equivalent 

 in the old world to cathartes in the new, the Egyptian 

 vulture closely approximating in form, habits, and re- 

 latively in the range of its habitat to the turkey vulture. 

 Of the vulture of the old world the Egyptian vulture 

 is the smallest; it is however one of the most numerous, 

 and especially abounds in Egypt and the adjacent pro- 

 vinces of Europe, Asia, and Africa ; it has even been 

 seen in Italy and Switzerland, and on one occasion in 

 England. In temperate climates, birds that prey on 

 carrion are less necessary as scavengers than in tropical 

 countries, where flocks of vultures collect together from 

 distances that have astonished all observers by whom the 

 circumstance is recorded. This is well exemplified in 

 two species, which have been frequently confounded, the 

 turkey buzzard and the black vulture, both, of which are 

 looked upon as so useful in several of the States both of 

 North and South America, that there is a considerable 

 penalty for killing them. The former bird, indeed, as 

 we learn from M. Descourtilz, is, at Charleston, com 

 monly called by the name oifive pounds, from the amount 

 of this penalty. "These birds," he adds, "are thus 

 respected for the actual services which they render in 

 removing from the city and its vicinity all dead animals 

 and other garbage upon which they exclusively feed. 

 Hence, if even a chicken die, it is not long before its 

 bones are picked clean. The vultures are occupied the 

 whole day in making their rounds to discover carrion 

 and offal, and coming down in legions, they mutually 

 contend for the prey, which instantly disappears. They 

 are so familiar that they may easily be knocked down 

 with a stick. I had a great desire to procure a specimen 

 in this way ; but I was not disposed to pay five louis-d f or 



VOL. II. 



he golden eagle, but larger in every propor- 

 ion. From the end of the beak to that of tin* 

 ;ail, it is four feet and a half ; and to the 

 claws' end, forty-five inches. The length of 



f penalty." " The great number of these birds" (the 

 )lack vulture,') says Ulloa, " found in such hot climates, 

 s an excellent provision of nature; as otherwise the 

 Hltrifaction caused by the constant and excessive heat 

 ,vould render the air insupportable to human life. These 

 jirds are familiar in Carthagena; the tops of the houses 

 are covered with them: it is they who cleanse the city 

 f all its animal impurities. There are few animals 

 tilled whereof they do not obtain the offals ; and when 

 this food is wanting, they have recourse to other gar- 

 )age. Their sense of smelling is so acute, that it en- 

 ables them to trace carrion at the distance of three 01 

 "our leagues ; which they do not abandon till there re- \ 

 mains nothing but the skeleton." The following ac- 

 count of the same bird is by Wilson. 



' A horse had dropped down in the street in convul- 

 sions, and dying, it was dragged out to Hampstead and 

 skinned. The ground for a hundred yards around it was 

 black with carrion crows ; many sat on the tops of sheds, 

 fences, and houses within sight; sixty or eighty on the 

 opposite side of a small run. I counted at one time two 

 hundred and thirty-seven, but I believe there were 

 more, besides several in the air over my head and at a 

 distance. I ventured cautiously within thirty yards of 

 the carcass, where three or four dogs and twenty or thirty 

 vultures were busily tearing and devouring. Seeing 

 them take no notice I ventured nearer, till I was within 

 ten yards, and sat down on the bank. Still they paid 

 little attention to me. The dogs being sometimes acci- 

 dentally flapped with the wings of the vultures, would 

 growl and snap at them, which would occasion them to 

 spring up for a moment, but they immediately gathered 

 in again. I remarked that the vultures frequently at- 

 tack each other, fighting with their claws or heels, 

 striking like a cock, with open wings, and fixing their 

 claws in each other's head. The females, and I believe 

 the males likewise, made a hissing sound, with open 

 mouth, exactly resembling that produced by thrusting a 

 red-hot poker into water; and frequently a snuffling, 

 like a dog clearing his nostrils, as, I suppose, they were 

 theirs. On observing that they did not heed me, I stole 

 so close that my feet were within one yard of the horse's 

 legs, and again sat down. They all slid aloof a few 

 feet ; but seeing me quiet, they soon returned as before. 

 As they were often disturbed by the dogs, I ordered the 

 latter home: my voice gave no alarm to the vultures. 

 As soon as the dogs departed, the vultures crowded in 

 such numbers, that I counted at one time thirty-seven 

 on and around the carcass, with several within ; so that 

 scarcely an inch of it was visible. Sometimes one would 

 come out with a large piece of the entrails, which in * 

 moment was surrounded by several others, who tore it 

 in fragments, and it soon disappeared. They kept up the 

 hissing occasionally. Some of them having their whole 

 legs and heads covered with blood presented a most savage 

 aspect. Still, as the dogs advanced, I would order them 

 away, which seemed to gratify the vultures; and one 

 would pursue another to within a foot or two of the spot 

 where I was sitting. Sometimes I observed them 

 stretching their necks along the ground, as if to press 

 the food downwards." The black vulture appears to be 

 the same bird which is described by Acosta, under the 

 name of paullazes. As he tells us, " they have a stir, 

 prising agility and a piercing eye, arid are very useful 

 for clearing cities, not suffering the least vestige of car- 

 rion or putrid matter to remain. They spend the night 

 upon trees and rocks, and resort to the towns in the 

 morning, perching upon the tops of the highest build* 

 ings, whence they look out for their plunder." 



