420 AVES—VULTURE. 
after it has sated its appetite, during the day. At sunrise, large bands are 
seen perched-on the rocks at the entrance of their abodes, and sometimes a 
continued chain of mountains exhibits them dispersed throughout the greater 
part of its extent. Their tails are always worn down by friction against the 
stones between which they thrust themselves, or on which they perch ; 
while the eagles, seldom walking and frequently perching upon trees, pre- 
serve theirs more entire. Those of the vultures are moreover injured by the 
soil of the plains, inasmuch as they cannot raise themselves into the air at 
once, but only after running several paces forwards and by a forced con- 
traction of the limbs. The flight of the vulture is nevertheless no less 
powerful and lofty; they raise themselves to a prodigious height, and disap- 
pear entirely from the sight. 
It is scarcely to be conceived how these birds, which often cannot be dis- 
tinguished in the air, can themselves perceive what is going on, on the 
surface of the earth, discover the animals on which they feed, and fall upon 
them the moment they are overtaken by death. Whena hunter kills a 
large animal which he cannot immediately remove, if he abandon it for an 
instant, he finds on his return a band of vultures, where a quarter of an hour 
before not one was to be seen. Our author gives the particulars of several 
adventures of this kind that had befallen himself; and offers an explanation 
of the manner in which the vultures are enabled to detect their prey, strictly 
in accordance with the theory of Mr Audubon, to which we have before ad- 
verted. We quote this explanation at length, without, however, adopting 
the hypotheses which it involves. 
‘“‘Desirous of observing,” he says, “how so great a number of vultures 
could congregate together in so short a space of time, I concealed myself one 
day in a thicket, after having killed a large gazelle, which I left upon the 
spot. In an instant a number ofravens made their appearance, fluttering 
about the animal, and making a great croaking. In less than half a quarter 
of an hour these birds were reinforced by the arrival of kites and buzzards; 
and immediately afterwards I perceived on raising my head, a flight of birds 
at a prodigious height, wheeling round and round in their descent. These 
I soon recognised to be vultures, which seemed, if I may so express myself, 
to escape from a cavern in the sky. The first comers fell immediately upon 
the gazelle, but I did not allow them time to tear it in pieces. I left my 
concealment, and they betook themselves slowly and heavily to flight, re- 
joining their comrades, whose numbers continued to increase. They seemed 
almost to precipitate themselves from the clouds to share the spoil, but my 
presence caused them speedily to disappear. Thus it is then, that the vul- 
tures are called upon to participate in their prey; the first carnivorous birds 
that discover a carcass rouse the others which may happen to be in the 
environs by their cries and motions. If the nearest vulture does not spy 
he prey from the lofty region of the air in which he swims, by means of his 
wide spread wings, he perceives the subaltern and more terrestrial birds of 
