138 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



do and possess such iron constitutions. They 

 have even been known to take and survive doses of 

 poison which would inevitably have proved fatal to 

 anything else. 



A pleasing subject, for speculation is the baldness 

 of these disreputable fowl. Of course the most 

 obvious explanation is that feathers on a head which 

 is continually being poked inside carcases would soon 

 be the reverse of ornamental, if not unhealthy; but 

 as Darwin, with his usual philosophic caution, 

 remarks, the head of the cleanly turkey is just as 

 naked. So are those of the Ibis and the Cassowary, 

 and the Sarus Crane, and scattered here and there 

 throughout the bird class we come upon heads grie- 

 vously in need of a hair restorer. It will, however, 

 be noticed, that such usually belong to big birds ; 

 and that where degrees of baldness exist in any given 

 family, the biggest will also generally be the barest 

 on the top. The Ostrich indeed, the largest of all 

 birds, is also the nakedest ; his head and neck only 

 have scanty hairs, and his thighs are completely nude. 

 To apply this to the Vulture ; the low-caste and 

 under-sized Scavenger has a bald face, the ordinary 

 Vultures a sparsely downy head and neck, the Long- 

 billed, a longer and nakeder neck, and the King 

 luxuriates in complete bald-headedness accentuated 

 by side-flaps, and a naked red patch inside each thigh. 



