UNAPPETISING RATIONS 69 



noticed that in confinement, where Vultures are 

 fed regularly, they do not by any means eat im- 

 moderately ; a piece of meat the size of a good big 

 steak will suffice for the daily meal of a bird as big 

 as a Turkey. 



Mr. Beebe, the Bird Curator of the New York 

 Zoo, found that Vultures in captivity preferred 

 fresh to tainted meat, and an attempt made some 

 years ago to feed the Vultures on entrails instead 

 of flesh at our London establishment did not meet 

 with success, so that it is pretty obvious that these 

 birds in a state of nature are often forced by hunger 

 to consume substances which they do not really 

 appreciate. The extreme case of this is that of 

 the small White Scavenger Vultures (Neophron) 

 which habitually feed on excrement, not being 

 strong enough to contend with the larger Vultures 

 for carrion ; Tristram in Palestine saw them 

 looking on wistfully while Griffon Vultures tore at 

 a carcase, to which they eagerly rushed as soon 

 as the big birds retired at his approach, only to be 

 driven off when their tyrants deemed it safe to come 

 back again. 



It is well known, too, that hawthorn- berries form 

 an important part of the food of our familiar 

 birds of the Thrush tribe, and of Wood-Pigeons ; 

 yet during several London winters, which have 

 been mild, I have noticed that haws hung on the 

 trees till spring, untouched by the numerous 

 Blackbirds, Thrushes, and Wood-Pigeons that fre- 

 quent Regent's Park, showing that these berries are 



