12" AUDACITY OF THE LAMMEEGEYER. 



A variety of this bird is found in many parts of Africa, where it is appropriately 

 named Abou-Duch'n, or Daddy-long-beard. It seems to be as audacious as its European 

 and Asiatic relation, and is possessed of even greater boldness. Bruce gives a graphic 

 and amusing narrative of the cool audacity that was displayed by one of these birds. 

 The author, with a number of his attendants, were seated on the summit of a moun- 

 tain, engaged in cooking their dinner, when a Lammergeyer came slowly sailing over 

 the ground, and boldly alighted close to the dish of boiled meat around which the 

 men were sitting. Undismayed by their shouts of distress, he quietly proceeded to 

 reconnoitre the spot, while the men were running for their spears and shields, and 

 going up to the pot in which some goat's flesh was boiling, he inserted his foot for the 

 purpose of abstracting the meat. Not being prepared for the sudden scalding which 

 ensued, he hastily withdrew his foot, and fastened on a leg and shoulder of goat's 

 flesh which were lying on the dish, carrying them away before he could be intercepted. 



The attendants were quite afraid of the bird, and assured Mr. Bruce that it would 

 return in a short time for more meat. Accordingly, in a very few minutes, back 

 came the Lammergeyer, but was evidently rather suspicious at the look of Mr. Bruce, 

 who had taken up his rifle, and was sitting close to the pan of meat. In spite of the 

 shouts of the attendants, the biixi, which evidently held in the greatest contempt the 

 warlike capabilities of the natives, and was not prepared for European weapons and hands, 

 settled on the ground about ten yards from the meat, and the next instant was lying dead 

 on the earth, with a rifle-ball through its body. When brought to the scales, the 

 dead bird was found to weigh twenty-two pounds, and the expanse of its wings was eight 

 feet four inches, although it was undergoing its moult at the time. 



When the bird was handled, a large amount of yellow dust was shaken from the feathers, 

 and upon the breast was so plentiful that it "flew in full greater quantity than from 

 a hairdresser's powder puff." Mr. Bruce at the time thought that this yellow dust was some 

 extraordinary provision of nature for the purpose of defending the bird against the pecu- 

 liarly wet climate of the country in which it was found. It is, however, merely a natural 

 deposit of feathery substance, and in many birds, such as the common cockatoo, the heron, 

 and birds of prey, is permanently formed. As this curious powder is produced from 

 the feathers, and is a result of their reproduction, a few lines on the subject can well be 

 spared in the present place. 



Each feather is rooted in a socket, which is formed by a fold of the skin, and at 

 the bottom of this tube or socket a peculiar formative fluid is secreted on the com- 

 mencement of the new feather. By degrees this fluid is inclosed in a little conical 

 vesicle, its closed point being directed outwards, and its open base being held within the 

 cavity of the socket. As it increases in size, the conical point is pushed through the skin, 

 and serves as a wedge by which the feather, which is gradually being developed in its 

 interior, is thrust through the integuments. As the feather gains strength, this conical 

 vesicle is of no service, dries up, and falls off in little plates or scales. In many feathers, 

 however, the development proceeds no farther than the formation of a hollow shaft, the 

 formative fluid drying into powder, and plentifully scattered on the surrounding plumage ; 

 this is the yellow dust or powder noticed by Mr. Bruce. The object of its formation is 

 not yet known, but it clearly must serve some important purpose, or it would not 

 be produced in such abundance, as is found in many of the birds where it permanently 

 exists. In the Lammergeyer, for example, it flew from the feathers in clouds, and in 

 the cockatoo is so plentiful, that any one who handles a tame cockatoo for a few minutes 

 will be covered with the particles of this curious production. On examining the feathers 

 of a cockatoo's head and neck, the imperfect and open quills from which the secretion is 

 shaken are many in number, and conspicuous to the sight as the bird bends down its head 

 to receive the caresses of which it is so fond. 



The Lammergeyer, like other birds of prey, loves to build uj)on some elevated spot, 

 and generally places its nest upon the summit of a .lofty cliff. The nest is a very rude 

 affair, being chiefly composed of sticks laid inartistically together, and serving merely 

 as a platform, on which the eggs and young may be lifted from actual contact with 

 the rock. Gesner relates an account of a Lammergeyer's nest which was built upon 



