258 NATURAL HISTORY. 



and no sooner was the obstacle in their way thus surmounted than they again depressed their flight,. 

 Those Viiltures which I saw could not have themselves seen the carrion, but simply hunted in direct 

 sight of one another. There was a numerous arrival ; and although I could not always detect the next 

 bird as soon as I had lost sight of the previous one, yet, when at length it did come into view, it never- 

 seemed uncertain about its course. Having finished my observations, I descended, and proceeded in, 

 the direction which the Vultures had pursued ; and after aboiit half an hour's rapid walking, I found,, 

 as I anticipated, the carcase of a Zebra, with a numerous company of Vultures busily discussing it."* 



Dr. Kirk, the companion of Livingstone, in his paper on the " Birds of the Zambesi Region of 

 Eastern Tropical Africa,"t says that to the inexperienced hunter the Griffon is "a great annoyance. 

 If game be left for an hour in the open plain while the men come to carry it off, the birds will descend, 

 and in a very short time completely devour it. This is not so if it be covered over with a little 

 grass or with branches, clearly proving that sight alone is the sense by which the birds discover their 

 prey. If part of the animal be exposed it matters not probably owing to its being mistaken for 

 one asleep ; nor does the presence of blood seem to guide the birds if the carcase be concealed 

 from view." 



Lastly, to quote from Canon Tristram's interesting essay on the " Ornithology of the Sahara : " 

 " As, happily for the traveller, Camels do not die every day under the weight of their water-skins, the 

 Griffon does not habitually visit the desert. Still, he occasionally gives it a passing call, though, if 

 his meal be deposited near an oasis, he is usually forestalled by the Hysena (' Dubba,' Arab.), who 

 lurks in the ' weds.' On one occasion a Camel in our caravan having become footsore had to be 

 slaughtered on the spot. Our attendants selected the tenderest morsels for ' kouskous,' the Arab 

 broth ; and it was not until the next morning that a Vulture scented, or rather descried, his prey. 

 That the Vulture uses the organ of sight rather than that of smell, seems to be certain from the 

 immense height at which he soars and gyrates in the air. In this instance one solitary bird 

 descended, and half an hour afterwards was joined by a second. A short time elapsed, and the 

 Nubian Vulture (Otogyps nubicus) appeared, self-invited, at the feast ; and before the bones were 

 left to the Hysena no less than nine Griffons and two Nubians had bi-oken their fast. I should 

 hesitate to assert that they had satisfied their appetites. I have observed the same regular succession 

 of diners out on other occasions. May we not conjecture that the process is as follows ] The Griffon 

 who first descries his quarry descends from his elevation at once ; another, sweeping the horizon 

 at a still greater distance, observes his neighbour's movements and follows his course ; a third, still 

 fai-ther removed, follows the flight of the second ; he is traced by another ; and so a perpetual 

 succession is kept up as long as a morsel of flesh remains over which to consort. I can conceive no> 

 other way of accounting for the numbers of Vultures which in the course of a few hours will gather 

 over a carcase, when previously the horizon might have been scanned in vain for more than one, or at the 

 most two, in sight. Does not this explain the immense number of Vultures who were congregated! 

 in the Crimea during the siege of Sebastopol, where the bird was comparatively scarce before ? May 

 not this habit of watching the movements of their neighbours have collected the whole race from the 

 Caucasus and Asia Minor to enjoy so unwonted an abundance 1 The Ai*abs believe that the Vultures 

 from all North Africa were gathered to feed on Russian Horses in the Crimea, and declare that, 

 during the war very few ' Nissr ' were to be seen in their accustomed haunts." 



The above extracts from authentic works have been made at some length, as exhibiting the 

 general habits of the Vultures. It remains now to notice some of the most striking forms of these 

 birds. 



THE BLACK VULTURE 



This is an inhabitant of Southern Europe, whence it extends on both sides of the Mediterranean 

 to North-western India, where it is a cold weather visitant, and even to China. In its habits this bird 

 is rather unsociable, and keeps more to the wooded districts, seldom venturing into the open country,, 

 except when attracted by the presence of some carcase, on which it feasts in company with the 

 Griffon Vulture. It breeds on trees, constructing a large bulky nest, and only selects a rock for its 



* " Notes on the Birds of Damara Land and the adjacent countries of Soiith-west Africa," 1872, p. 3. 

 t 1864, p. 307. J 1859, p. 277. Vultm- monachus. 



