38 THE TURKEY BUZZARD. 



hog and the little pig ; and then he will be able to 

 draw his own conclusion as to the blindness of the 

 vultures during the first experiment, and their 

 keenness of vision during the second. 



I will now take a peep at the vultures marshalled 

 in aerial columns. 



The author tells us, " a flock of twenty may easily 

 survey an area of two miles, as they go turning in 

 large circles, often intersecting each other in their 

 lines, as if forming a vast chain of rounded links ; 

 some are high, whilst others are low; not a spot is 

 passed over unseen ; and, consequently, the moment 

 a prey is discovered, the favoured bird rounds to, 

 and, by the impetuosity of its movements, gives 

 notice to its nearest companion, who immediately 

 follows him, and is successively attended by all the 

 rest. Thus the farthest from the discoverer, being 

 at a considerable distance, sails in a direct line 

 towards the spot indicated to him by the flight of 

 the others, who have all gone in a straight course 

 before him, with the appearance of being impelled 

 by this extraordinary power of smelling, so errone- 

 ously granted them." Here I break the quotation, 

 to ask the question, how are the hindermost vul- 

 tures, which are successively attending to the notice 

 given by the favoured bird, in order to profit by it, 

 to know whether the favoured bird has alighted upon 

 some large carrion, or a diminutive garter snake ^ 

 The leader vulture, according to our author's former 

 experiment, would be equally liable to fall down 

 upon the one as upon the other; and though he 

 might get a mouthful, the rest would be sorely dis- 



