HABITS OF BIRDS. 



King of the Vultures. 



It is not improbable that similar solitary habits in 

 the lion arid the eagle, together with their magnitude 

 and their strength, have given origin to the titles of 

 king of the beasts and king of the birds, current all 

 over the world. " The eagle," says Jonston, " chal- 

 lengeth the first place, not that it is the best dish at 

 table, for none will eat it, but because it is the king 

 of the birds*." The ancient Greeks used the same 

 term, as we find Pinclar talking of " the great eagle, 

 the chief magistrate of the birds f." Josephus, the 

 Jewish historian, also says the eagle was selected for 



* Miracles of Nature, Englished by a Person of Quality. 

 p. 167, fol. Lond. 1657. 



f Ode vi. Isthmior. 



