BIRDS OF PREY. 



69 



creatures by letting it fall upon the head of the poet ^Eschylus, imagining that worthy ancient's bald 

 pate to be a stone. 



Such of these birds as inhabit Asia and Africa are equally formidable. Bruce relates a fact that 

 came under his own notice, well calculated to show that those on the latter continent are by no means 

 behind their European congeners, either in audacity or strength. The traveller and his companions, 

 while in the mountains, were seated at their dinner with several large dishes of goat's flesh before 

 them, when a Bearded Vulture suddenly appeared. It did not swoop rapidly from a height, but 

 came slowly flying along the ground, sat down close to the meat, within the ring formed by the men, 

 and deliberately put its foot into the pan in which a large piece of meat was boiling, but, as may be 

 supposed, soon withdrew it ; there were, however, two other pieces, a leg and a shoulder; into these 

 it struck its claws and carried them off. After a short time it returned for more, but was shot by 

 one of the men, who by this time had recovered from their astonishment at such an unwelcome and 

 unexpected intrusion. 



The breeding time of the Bearded Vulture occurs in Europe during the first months of the year, 

 and in Asia and Africa during the spring. The nest is variously constructed, and we cannot do 

 better than give the words in which those built in Arabia were described by our guides : " The nest 

 of this robber and son of a robber (may Allah curse him and all his generations !) is placed where the 

 sons of Adam can rarely penetrate, and is formed of a huge bed of goat's hair, gathered from the 

 animals the wretch has slaughtered. The nest contains but two eggs, with a white shell, spotted all 

 over with the blood of its prey." The brother of Dr. Brehm was the first European who succeeded 

 in finding one of the many nests built by these birds amid the solitudes of the Pyrenees. This eyrie 

 was about five feet in diameter at its base and its height three feet ; the interior was about two feet 

 wide and five inches deep ; the sides were constructed of branches varying greatly both in length 

 and thickness ; upon these was a heap of twigs, in the middle of which the hollow of the nest was 

 excavated ; the interior was lined with a bed of various kinds of hair. The eggs of such European 

 species as we have seen were large and almost spherical, with a coarse-grained, dirty white shell, 

 spotted with reddish brown, dark grey, or ochreous yellow. As may be easily imagined, the capture 

 of these huge and fierce birds is attended with much difficulty ; the Swiss endeavour to lure them 

 down during the winter by sprinkling blood upon the snow, or laying a trap baited with carrion near 

 the spots upon which the eyries are built. 



The TRUE VULTURES ( Vultures) have stout powerful bodies, which are of unusual breadth 

 at the breast ; the wings are long, broad, and rounded, their fourth quill being of greater length than 

 the rest ; the tail is of medium size, and slightly rounded at its extremity ; the individual quills are 

 stiff and ragged, or split towards their tip ; the legs are strong, of moderate length, and destitute of 

 feathers ; the toes, though long and powerful, are almost useless for grasping ; the talons are slightly- 

 bent and very blunt. The beak, which is as long as the head, is higher than it is broad, and straight 

 except at its extremity, which terminates in a moderately long and very sharp hook ; the mandibles 

 bulge slightly outwards at their margins. The plumage is composed of very long and broad feathers, 

 and does not entirely cover the body, the head and neck are either quite bare or overspread with a 

 slight growth of hair-like down. In some species the legs and belly are covered with down, inter- 

 mingled upon the latter with long narrow feathers. The bare or thinly-covered portions of the body 

 are often brightly coloured, but the plumage itself is usually sombre and indistinct in its coloration, 

 though occasionally variegated. The eyes are large and expressive, the formation of the nostril 

 differs considerably according to the species. All the members of this group see, hear, and smell 

 with great acuteness, and their intelligence is by no means inferior to that of the Bearded Vulture. 



