7(^ 



VERTKIIKATES : lilRDS. 



Vultures. 



Vultures have the head nearly naked or thinly cov- 

 ered with feathers, and, unlike the other rapacious 

 Birds, seldom capture prey, but feed upon carrion, 

 which they trace by sight at great distances. They 

 make no nest, but deposit their eggs on the ground or 

 naked rock. There are three or four kinds in the United 

 States. The Condor of the Andes and the Lammer- 

 geyer of the Alps are Vultures of the largest kind. 

 The latter attacks lambs, goats, and the chamois. The 

 California Vulture is the largest Bird of Prey in North 

 America, being as large as the largest Turkey ; the color 

 is black, the head orange and red. See Figure 104. 



Falcons, Hawks, and Eagles. 



These Birds have the head clothed with feathers, and 

 their talons are verj^ sharp. Their flight is rapid, and 

 they attack their prey with great ferocity, capturing 

 chickens, ducks, grouse, quails, hares, rabbits, squirrels, 

 and other small animals. The species are numerous, 

 about seventy kinds of Eagles being known, and more 

 than thirty kinds of Falcons and Hawks inhabiting 

 North America. The true Falcons have a distinct 

 tooth in the upper mandible, as seen in Figure 105. 



Fig. 105. — American Peregrine Falcon, or Ducli Hawk. 



