HisTOftT( or 



The GOLDKN VULTURE secms to be the foremost of the kind ; 

 and is, in many things, like the golden eagle, but larger in every 

 proportion. From the end of the beak to that of the tail, it is 

 four feet and a half; and to the claws' end, forty-five inches. 

 The length of the upper mandible is almost seven inches ; and 

 the tail twenty-seven in length. The lower part of the neck, 

 breast, and belly, are of a red colour ; but on the tail it is more 

 faint, and deeper near the head. The feathers are black on the 

 back ; and on the wings and tail of a yellowish brown. Others 

 of the kind differ from this in colour and dimensions ; but they 

 are all strongly marked by their naked heads, and beak straiglit 

 in the beginning, but hooking at the point. 



They are still more strongly marked by their nature, which, 



enemy with numbers, and tear carcasses even to the very bone. Tliey are 

 attracted by the savour of corruption and infection. The hawks, the fal- 

 cons, and even the smallest birds of this order, exhibit more courage than 

 the vultures; for they hunt their prey alone, almost all of them disdain 

 dead flesh, and will reject that which is corrupted. Comparing birds with 

 quadrupeds, the vulture appears to unite the strength a; d cruelty of the 

 tiger with the cowardice and gormandism of the chacal, which likewise 

 joins in troops to devour carrion and root up the dead : \\ liile the eagle has 

 the courage, nobleness, magnanimity, and generosity of the lion. 



Endowed with a sense of fmelling exti-emely keen, the odour of corrupt- 

 ed flesh attracts the v\iltuies from a considerable distance. They fly to. 

 wards it in flocks, and all the species are admitted indiscriminately to the 

 disgusting banquet. If pressed by hunger, they will descend near the habi- 

 tation> of men, but they never attempt an attack except on the peaceable 

 and timid tenants of the poultry yard. 



The vultiu-es are more numerous in the southern than in the northern 

 parts of the g obe. Still, it does not appear that they dread the cold, and 

 seek warmth in preference ; for in our part of the world they live in the 

 greatest numbers on the highest mountains, and descend but rarely into the 

 plains. In the hot clmates such as Egypt, where they are vcrj' numerous 

 and of great utility, because they clear the surface of the earth of the debris 

 of dead animals, and prevent the ill consequences of putrefaction, they are 

 more frequently seen upon the plain than in the mountains. They approach 

 inhabited places, and spread themselves at day break in the towns and vil. 

 la^es, and render essential service to the inhalntants by gorging themselves 

 with the filth and carrion accumulated in the streets. In our climates thfl 

 vultures during the fine season, inhabit the most lofty and deserted moun- 

 tains : there, says Belon, they build their nests against shelvy rocks and in 

 inaccessible situations. Authors are not agreed as to the number of their 

 eggs, some stating it at two, others more. 1 hey do not carrj- food for their 

 young in their talons, like the eagles, which even tear their prey in the air 

 to distribute it to their family ; but they fill their <rop, and then dUgorge 

 the contents into the beaks of the little ones. In winter they migrate into 

 p. Marnier i'1im;ite. 



