ITS REPULSIVE HABITS. 41 



daughter, which he could never forget, laying his hand 

 upon his heart, he exclaims : 



" O Regan, she hath tied 

 Sharp-tooth'd unkindness, like a vulture, here." 



King Lear, Act ii. Sc. 4. 



One of the worst wishes to which Falstaff could give 

 vent when in a bad humour, was : 



" Let vultures gripe thy guts !" 



Merry Wives of Windsor, Act i. Sc. 3. 

 And the same idea is expressed in Henry IV. (Part II. 

 Act v. Sc. 4) : 



" Let vultures vile seize on his lungs also !" 

 Occasionally we find the word " vulture " employed as 

 an adjective : 



" Her sad behaviour feeds her vulture folly." 



Lncrece. 

 And 



" Whose vulture thought doth pitch the price so high." 



Venus and Adonis. 



The structure of the Osprey is wonderfully adapted to 

 his habits, and an examination of the feet of this bird will 

 prove how admirably contrived they are for grasping and 

 holding a slippery fish. Mr. St. John, who had excellent 

 opportunities of studying the Osprey in his native haunts, 

 says :* " I generally saw the osprey fishing about the 

 lower pools of the rivers near their mouths ; and a 



* "Tour in Sutherland," vol. i. p. 113. 



