THE BACITA. 381 



with lightning-like rapidity, he cleaves his skull with one 

 single stroke of his beak. 



Fear seems to be totally unknown to this noble bird, and he 

 defends himself to the last moment. D'Orbigny relates that 

 one day, while descending a Bolivian river in a boat with some 

 Indians, they severely wounded a harpy with their arrows, so 

 that it fell from the branch on which it had been struck. 

 Stepping out of the canoe, the savages now rushed to the spot 

 where the bird lay, knocked it on the head, and tearing out the 

 feathers of its wings, brought it for dead to the boat. Yet the 

 harpy awakened from his trance, and furiously attacked his 

 persecutors. Throwing himself upon D'Orbigny he pierced his 

 hand through and through with the only talon that had been 

 left unhurt, while the mangled remains of the other tore his 

 arm, which at the same time he lacerated with his beak. Two 

 men were hardly able to release the naturalist from the attacks 

 of the ferocious bird. 



On turning from the New to the Old World, we find other 

 but not less interesting raptorial birds sweep througii the higher 

 regions of the air in quest of prey. The gigantic oricou, or 

 Sociable Vulture (Vultur aurieularis), inhabits the greater 

 part of Africa, and builds his nest in the fissures of rocks on the 

 peaks of inaccessible mountains. In size he equals the condor, 

 and his flight is not less bold ; leaving his lofty cavern at dawn, 

 he rises higher and higher, till he is lost to 

 ^sight ; but, though beyond the sphere of 

 Luman vision, the telescopic eye of the bird is 

 it work. The moment any animal sinks to 

 :;he earth in death, the unseen vulture detects 

 ft. Does the hunter bring down some large 

 [uadruped, beyond his powers to remove, and 

 leave it to obtain assistance ? — on his return^ 

 however speedy, he finds it surrounded by a 

 band of vultures, where not one was to be seen sociable vulture. 

 a quarter of an hour before. 



Le Vaillant having once killed three zebras, hastened to his 

 camp, at about a league's distance, to fetch a wagon ; but on 

 returning he found nothing but the bones, at which hundreds 

 of oricous were busy picking. Another time, having killed a 

 gazelle, he left the carcase on the sand, and retired into the 



