HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



307 



which does, and this is against the common notion of 

 the acutcness of their scent. Indeed the foetid dis- 

 tillation from their own nostrils is a pretty strong 

 argument against their smelling power ; a man with 

 his nose constantly bathed in assafoctida would not be 

 in the best condition for finding roses by the scent. 

 "Their voracity," says the lamented David Douglas, 

 *' is almost insatiable, and they are extremely ungene- 

 rous, suSoring no other animal to approach them 

 while feeding. After eating they become so sluggish 

 and indolent as to remain in the same place, until 

 urged by hunger to go in quest of another repast. 

 At such times they perch on decayed trees, with 

 their heads so much retracted as to be with difficulty 

 observed tlirough the long, loose, lanceolate feathers 

 of the collar; tlie winfjs at the same time hancj down 

 over the feet. This position they invariably preserve 



