The Chorus of the Forest 



ficial in their work of ridding camps, tenting 

 families, villages, and cities of refuse and decay- 

 ing matter, that in the heat bred plague and 

 fever quickly, that one of the kings surpassed the 

 stringent laws of his predecessors for the protec- 

 tion of the birds by enacting a law inflicting the 

 death penalty on any one killing a vulture. Fol- 

 lowing this precedent, some of our Southern States 

 impose a heavy fine as a means of protecting these 

 birds. 



All over the South they are common, and at 

 times become familiar and perch upon housetops 

 and buildings, so contaminating the water supply 

 that it is a question as to whether they are a bless- 

 ing. In the North the birds are not numerous, but 

 every year makes them more so. Their cousin, 

 turkey-buzzard, is frequent. The old birds spend 

 much of their time on wing, ranging the sky over 

 miles of country searching for food. They are 

 graceful and majestic in flight as any bird, not 

 truly black, but shading from a reddish tinge to 

 a rich dark-brown with blackish effects. 



I can not see that any bird presents a more at- 

 tractive picture in the sky. It is not known how 

 high they can soar; beyond our range of vision, Black 

 that is sure. Their music resembles a guttural * 

 jabber in love-making, most of which is done in 

 sign language; and when angry or afraid, they 

 hiss much like geese. In danger or anger they do 

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