94 HISTORY OF 



thing can be more lean, stringy, nauseous, and 

 unsavoury. It is in vain that, when killed, the 

 rump has been cut off; in vain the body has been 

 washed, and spices used to overpower its pre- 

 vailing odour; it still smells and tastes of the 

 carrion by which it was nourished, and sends 

 forth a stench that is insupportable. 



These birds, at least those of Europe, usually 

 lay two eggs at a time, and produce but once a- 

 year. They make their nests in inaccessible cliffs, 

 and in places so remote that it is rare to find them. 

 Those in our part of the world chiefly reside in 

 the places where they breed, and seldom come 

 down into the plains, except when the snow and 

 ice, in their native retreats, has banished all liv- 

 ing animals but themselves ; they then come from 

 their heights, and brave the perils they must en- 

 counter in a more cultivated region. As carrion 

 is not found at those seasons in sufficient quan- 

 tity, or sufficiently remote from man to sustain 

 them, they prey upon rabbits, hares, serpents, and 

 whatever small game they can overtake or over- 

 power. 



Such are the manners of this bird in general ; 

 but there is one of the kind, called the King of 

 the Vultures, which from its extraordinary figure 

 deserves a separate description. This bird is a 

 native of America, and not of the East Indies, as 

 those who make a trade of showing birds would 

 induce us to believe. This bird is larger than a 

 turkey-cock ; but is chiefly remarkable for the 

 odd formation of the skin of the head and neck, 

 which is bare. This skin arises from the base of 



