XX.— THE VULTURE. 



, Never stoofs the soaring vulture 



But another vulture, watching 



From his high mriall lookout, 



Sees the downward flunge, and follows 



And a third pursues the second, 



Coming from the invisible ether. 



First a speck, and then a vulture. 



Till the air is dark with pinions. — Longfellow. 

 The length of the above quotation will, I am sure, 

 be excused for the sake of its beauty and accuracy ; 

 for it is now well established that Vultures find their 

 food not by scent, as some authors use to maintain, 

 but by sight only. Nor is it necessarily the case that 

 a Vulture should discover it at all ; often the 

 ubiquitous crow is the first comer, only to be driven off 

 by the kite, who in turn yields place to his betters. 

 The commonest Vulture hereabout is certainly the 

 Bengal or white-backed species {Pseudogyps 

 bengalensis), which may be seen almost any day 

 soaring high in air, his wings flat and motionless as 

 boards, in hope of the full meal that he gets, perhaps 

 once a week. For when a carcase is found, and the 



