KING OF THE VULTURES. 143 



by the monstrous births of nature. In those wild regions, 

 every thing inspires a latent horror : broken precipices, 

 prowling panthers, forests only vocal by the hissing of 

 serpents, and mountains of the most forbidding aspect, 

 rendered still more terrific by being the haunt or retreat 

 of the condor. 



The colour of this bird is brown. One of its feathers 

 is nearly two feet and a half in length, and in the largest 

 part an inch and a half in circumference. 



KING OF THE VULTURES. 



Vultures in general (which are commmon in some parts 

 of Europe, and known in every quarter of the globe, 

 though absolute strangers in England) are easily distin- 

 guished from birds of the eagle kind, which they resem- 

 ble most, by the nakedness of their heads and necks ; 

 these parts, in fact, having no other covering than a very 

 slight down, or a. few scattered hairs. They are all in- 

 delicately voracious ; though some species, particularly 

 that now under consideration, is not without some claim 

 to beauty. 



The king of the vultures is a native of America, and is 

 somewhat larger than a turkey-cock. It is remarkable for 

 the singular formation of the skin on the head and neck, 

 which is bare and of an orange-colour. This rises from 

 the base of the bill, and extends on each side of the 

 head ; from which it proceeds like an indented comb, 

 falling according to the inclination of the head. A scar- 

 let-covered skin surrounds the eyes, and the irides have 

 the colour and lustre of pearl. Behind the head rises a 

 tress of black down, from which issues a wrinkled skin, 

 extending below the throat, of a brownish colour, mixed 

 with blue and reddish. Below, on the naked part of the 

 neck, is a collar of soft longish feathers, of a deep ash- 

 colour. Into this collar the bird frequently withdraws its 

 neck, and the greatest part of its head, which gives it, 

 for the time, a very singular appearance. 



By these marks, the king of the vultures may be suffi- 



