642 EAPTOEES, OE BIRDS OP PEET. 



of Pharaoh's Chickens, by which they are designated in Egyptian. 

 Although they do not manifest much inclination for living prey, 

 they will sometimes attack small mammals which are incapable 

 of defence or flight. The Crow is an adversary whose superiority 

 they never fail to acknowledge, and rarely dare to resist. 



The Pondicherry Vulture ( Vidtur ponticerianus), the Indian 

 Vulture {Vultur indicus), and Kolbe's Vulture {Vidtur KoVju), 

 are also deserving of notice ; the two former are found prin- 

 cipally in Hindostan, the latter in different parts of Africa as well 

 as Java. 



The Vultures properly so called (Vultur, Cuv.) have the head 

 and neck bare, the latter being surrounded at its base by a ruff 

 or collar of feathers ; the nostrils round or oval ; the tarsi bare 

 or feathered on the upper portion ; the middle toe very long ; 

 the wings pointed, and almost hanging down to the ground. 

 Their faculty of flight, although powerful, is slow and heavy ; 

 they take wing with difiiculty, and this fact has procured for them 

 their name of Vultur {rolatus tardus, slow flight). Preferring 

 putrid meat, thejr feed but little on flesh in a fresh state, although 

 they do not absolutely refuse it ; they consequently seldom attack 

 living animals. 



Buffon has branded the Vulture with a stigma of infamj' which 

 will always cast an odium on its name. " Vultures," saj's he, 

 " are actuated by nothing but a degraded instinct of gluttony and 

 greediness. Thcj^ will ne^-or contend with the living if they can 

 glut their appetites on the dead. The Eagle attacks its enemies 

 or its victims face to face ; it pursues them, fights them, and 

 seizes them by its own individual prowess. Vultures, on the 

 contrarjr, however slight may be the resistance which they antici- 

 pate, combine in flocks like cowardly assassins, and are rather 

 thieves than warriors — birds of carnage rather than birds of prej' ; 

 for these are the only birds which are so madly devoted to carrion 

 that the}' pick the very bones of a decaying carcass. Corruption 

 and infection seem to attract instead of repelling them." Further 

 on, too, he adds, *■' In comparing birds with quadrupeds, the Vul- 

 ture seems to combine the strength and crueltj- of the tiger with 

 the cowardice and gluttony of the jackal." 



The great naturalist has, however, somewhat calumniated the 



