Vultur 179 



Wherefore Herodotus, the father of the rhetorician 

 Briso, thought that Vultures winged it from some 

 other world unknown to us, his argument being that 

 nobody had ever seen a Vulture's nest, although a multi- 

 tude at once come into sight when following an army. 

 And yet, however difficult it be to see the nest of this 

 bird, still it has been seen at certain times. Vultures 

 lay two eggs each. Besides it is a well-known fact that 

 animals which feed on flesh do not breed more than 

 once a year. 



PLINY. 



Of Vultures the black are most plentiful. No one 

 has ever reached their nests and therefore there have 

 been some who erroneously thought that they flew 

 hither from another world. They really nest in very 

 lofty rocks. Indeed the offspring, generally twins, 

 are often seen. Umbricius, the most skilful augur 

 of our age, asserts that they lay three eggs, with 

 one of which they cleanse the others and purify the 

 nest, and afterwards throw it away. And that they 

 fly three or two days beforehand to a place where 

 carcases are likely to be found. 



Quite wrongly certain scholars call the Vulture Gryps, 

 confounding foolishly the Vulture and the Gryps, since the 

 Gryps is a Gryphon, or an animal believed to be both winged 

 and quadruped. 



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