Vultures 



heap from under the very beak of the turkey buzzard that 

 stands in ridiculous awe of its heavy weight. But it is only 

 at feeding time that these two vultures associate. The black 

 vulture is decidedly the more gregarious. A carcass of horse 

 or hog will sometimes be entirely concealed under an animate 

 mass of these sable scavengers, perhaps two hundred or more 

 fiercely clawing at the loathsome food. They gave the final 

 touch of horror to the scene after the destruction of the Spanish 

 fleet at Santiago when the sailors were washed ashore, and 

 to the battlefields where our own dead soldiers lay. One of 

 the Rough Riders who had shown magnificent courage in the 

 presence of the enemy went into violent hysterics at the sight 

 of the vultures hovering over his fallen friends in the underbrush 

 about Baiquiri. 



308 



