HABITAT OF THE CAKNIVORA. 



167 



innumerable swarms of mosquitoes ; the latter being found wherever 

 any humidity prevails.' "* 



What Carre tte relates of the lion is also true of the other carni- 

 vora, of the panther and the leopard, as well as of the hyaena and the 

 jackal. It is surely easy to understand that these animals greatly 



1. GypaStos, or Bearded Vulture. 



2. Sociable Vulture. 



Cathartes Percnopterus. 



prefer to sojourn in fertile and well-watered countries, where they 

 enjoy freshness, shelter, copious supplies of water, and abundant prey, 

 than in hot glaring plains of sand, which offer them no asylum, and 

 where they run the risk of perishing of hunger and thirst. It is, 

 then, only on exceptional occasions that the lions and other large 

 * Carrette, " Exploration de 1'Algerie," tome ii. 



