THE VULTURE. r>7 



this be, we are not to regret that it is scarcely ever seen in Europe, 

 as it appears to be one of the most formidable enemies of mankind 

 In the deserts of Pachomac, where it is chiefly seen, men seldom veil' 

 ture to travel. Those wild regions are very sufficient of themselves 

 to inspire a secret horror : broken precipices prowling panthers 

 forests only vocal with the hissing of serpents and mountains ren- 

 dered still more terrible by the condor, the only bird that ventures to 

 make its residence in those deserted situations. 



CHAPTER IV. 



OK THE VULTURE AND ITS AFFINITIES. 



THE first rank in the description of birds, has been given to the 

 eagle ; not because it is stronger and larger than the vulture, but be- 

 cause it is more generous and bold. The eagle, unless pressed by fa- 

 mine, will not stoop to carrion ; and never devours but what he has 

 earned by his own pursuit. The vulture, on the contrary, is indeli- 

 cately voracious ; and seldom attacks living animals, when it can be 

 supplied with the dead. The eagle meets, and singly opposes his 

 enemy ; the vulture, if he expects resistance, calls in the aid of its 

 kind ; and basely overpowers its prey by a cowardly combination. 

 Putrefaction and stench, instead of deterring, only serve to allure 

 them. The vulture seems among birds, what the jackal and hyaena 

 are among quadrupeds, who prey upon carcasses, and root up the 

 dead. 



Vultures may be easily distinguished from all those of the eagle 

 kind, by the nakedness of their heads and necks, which are without 

 feathers, and only covered with a very slight down, or a few scatter- 

 ed hairs. Their eyes are more prominent ; those of the eagle's being 

 buried more in the socket. Their claws are shorter, and less hooked. 

 The inside of the wing is covered with a thick down, which is differ- 

 ent in them from all other birds of prey. Their attitude is not so up- 

 right as that of the eagle ; and their flight more difficult and heavy. 



In this tribe we may range the golden, the ash-coloured, and the 

 brown vulture, which are inhabitants of Europe ; the spotted and the 

 black vulture of Egypt ; the bearded vulture ; the Brazilian vulture, 

 and ihe king of the vultures of South Amerin. They all agree in 

 their nat'jre, being equally indolent, yet rapacious and unclean. 



The Golden Vulture seems to be the foremost of the kind, and is in 

 many things like the golden eagle, but larger in every proportion. 

 From the end of the beak to that of the tail, it is four feet and a half; 

 and to the claws' end, forty-five inches. The length of the upper 

 mandible is almost seven inches ; and the tail twenty-seven in length. 

 I'ho lower part of the neck, breast, and belly, are of a led colour; 



