110 ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



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, preserve theirs more entire. Those of the Vul- 

 tures 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 contraction of the limbs. The flight of 

 the Vultures 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 distinguished 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. When 

 a hunter kills a large animal which he cannot imme- 

 diately 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 adverted. We 

 quote this explanation at length, without, however, 

 adopting the hypothesis which it involves. 



" Desirous of observing," he says, " how so great a 

 number of Vultures could consreo-ate too-ether 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 of ravens 

 made their appearance, fluttering about the animal, and 

 making a great croaking. In less than half a quarter 



