420 



THE TURKEY VULTURE. 



is like the pull of the string which enables the kite to shoot rapidly upward 

 through the air. But what shall we say of a bird which, without momentum, 

 but still on motionless wing, rises steadily against the wind? Not only rises, 

 but makes rapid progress forward as well, in a direction contrary to the wind ? 



That these and other birds do accom- 

 plish this feat is a fact patent to all 

 careful observers. How they do it 

 well, that is another matter. "The way 

 of an Eagle (Vulture) in the air" has 

 puzzled more than wise Agur. 



The American Vulture is not 

 a high-flyer like those of the 

 Orient. In his case, however, 

 it is still clearly evident that en- 

 tire dependence is placed upon 

 the eye-sight in the detection 

 of food. An immense extent 

 of territory is covered by a 

 Buzzard on his daily rounds. 

 Xo visible corruption escapes 

 his notice, but the odor of half- 

 covered carrion may become al- 

 most palpable before it attracts 

 bis attention. A possible rea- 

 son for this inability to locate 

 bv the sense of smell alone is 

 disclosed in the words of 

 Coues: "Certain it is that in- 

 dependent of the passing con- 

 tents of the alimentary canal, 

 permanent foetid, musky odors 

 exhale from the bones and 

 muscles : and the same stench 

 is entangled in the web of the- 

 feathers. Tt is retained for a 

 long while even after the bird 

 is killed and stuffed. So 

 strong is it that one author, an 

 excellent naturalist, too, fancied it must be rather unpleasant to the birds 

 themselves." Hence it would appear that since the birds smell so loudly 

 themselves, they are not in a position to exercise discrimination with refer- 

 ence to external scents. It does not seem to be true, as has sometimes been 



'WiTH MOTIONLESS PINIONS.' 



