134 NATURAL HISTORY. 



is found in the wooded countries of Europe, and the bor- 

 dering countries of Asia, and also in the fur countries 

 of North America. There are several other species of 

 Buzzards in this country. 



226. We now come to the second great family of the 

 Raptores the Vultures. You have seen that the birds 

 of the Falcon family have for their office, in the general 

 economy of nature, to keep within bounds the number 

 of small birds and quadrupeds, and that their head-quar- 

 ters are chiefly in the cold and temperate regions. The 

 Vulture tribe, on the other hand, have for their office to 

 cleanse the earth from the dead bodies of animals that 

 have died from various causes, and their head-quarters 

 are chiefly between the tropics. Still, they are, for the 

 most part, inhabitants of 'mountainous regions, some of 

 them dwelling on the confines of perpetual snow. They 

 descend, however, to the warm regions below in search , 

 of their food. Vultures devour bodies that Hyenas and 

 Jackals could not reach ; for none but birds can reach 

 carcasses that are in the midst of the dense and tangled 

 forests of the tropics, or on the steep sides of their Al- 

 pine ranges. 



227. The distinguishing characteristic in the appear- 

 ance of the Vultures is the absence of feathers on the 

 head and neck, while round the bottom of the latter there 

 is a ruff of soft feathers in a loose fold of skin, within 

 which the bird withdraws its neck, and even the greater 

 part of its head, when, in a semi-torpid state, as motionless 

 as a statue, it digests the food with which it has gorged 

 itself. This absence of feathers on the head and neck is 

 an example of adaptation, for if they were upon this part 

 of the body they would become exceedingly foul by con- 

 tact with the carrion on which the Vulture feeds. The 

 whole plumage of this bird is deficient in the neat and 

 regular appearance of that of the Falcon family, and yet 

 it can not be called a filthy animal, for it washes itself 

 often, and spreads out its wings to the sun to be dried. 



