SOLITARY AND GREGARIOUS. 31 



Turkey Buzzard and Black Vulture. 



provision of nature; as otherwise, the putrefaction 

 caused by the constant and excessive heat would 

 render the air insupportable to human life. These 

 birds are familiar in Carthagena ; the tops of the 

 houses are covered with them : it is they who cleanse 

 the city of all its animal impurities. There are few 



