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CHAPTER XV. 



SCAVENGERS CRUSTACEANS, BIRDS, AND MAMMALS. 



Protozoa Crustacea : Sand-hoppers, Shrimps, Crabs The Vultures of the 

 Ocean Vultures on Land : " Daddy Long-beard," ' ' Pharaoh's Hens." 

 Turkey-buzzard, King of the Vultures Crows The Gallinazo, pro- 

 tected by law, its great boldness The Caracara and Arabian Kite 

 The Adjutant, Stork, and Domestic Duck Rats: their great usefulness, 

 personal cleanliness, fondness for Ivory ; how they have been made 

 use of in Paris Pariah Dogs, Dogs of Constantinople, Jackals, Wolves, 

 Hyaenas Nature's Scavengers not perfect. 



WHAT becomes of the dead bodies of the Polar 

 bears, reindeer, birds, &c., which exist in 

 thousands and millions, and must die in untold numbers?" 

 Professor Nordenskjold asks the question, but does not 

 answer it, though he says that " self-dead " animals are so 

 rarely seen in the Arctic regions, that it is easier to obtain 

 fossil bones than recent ones. Evidently, therefore, the 

 scavenging is very thoroughly done by some means or 

 other. 



Mr. Bates is equally struck with its thoroughness in 

 another department, namely in the fresh-water pools or lakes 

 on the Upper Amazons. " How elaborate must be the 

 natural processes of self-purification in these teeming waters," 

 he says, " for the water is quite pure, no scum of confervae, or 

 trace of animal decomposition is to be seen on the surface, 

 no foul smell is ever perceptible, and the whole of the level 



