122 AERIAL ENCOUNTER OF 



AERIAL ENCOUNTER OF THE EAGLE AND 

 THE VULTURE. 



NEXT to the adventure of the rattlesnake and 

 squirrel, in which Audubon informs us that he saw 

 a rattlesnake swallow a large American squirrel, 

 tail foremost, I am of opinion that this presents the 

 toughest morsel ever offered to the proverbially 

 wide gullet of John Bull. Audubon says : " Many 

 vultures were engaged in devouring the body and 

 entrails of a dead horse, when a white-headed eagle 

 accidentally passing by, the vultures all took to 

 wing, one, amongst the rest, with a portion of the 

 entrails, partly swallowed, and the remaining part, 

 about a yard in length, dangling in the air. The 

 eagle instantly marked him, and gave chase. The 

 poor vulture tried, in vain, to disgorge, when the 

 eagle, coming up, seized the loose end of the gut, 

 and dragged the bird along for twenty or thirty 

 yards, much against its will, till both fell to the 

 ground ; when the eagle struck the vulture, and in 

 a few moments killed it, after which he swallowed 

 the delicious morsel." In his strange paper on the 

 habits of the turkey buzzard, Mr. Audubon tells us 

 " that if the object discovered is large, lately dead, 

 and covered with a skin too tough to be ate and 

 torn asunder (cart before the horse), and afford 

 free scope to their appetites, they remain about it 

 and in the neighbourhood." Now, reader, observe, 



