Music of the Wild 



not scream and fight with beak and feet, as the 

 hawk or eagle, l)ut content themselves with hissing 

 and biting if cornered. They duck their heads, 

 dodge ra^ndly, and are xevy dexterous in making 

 their esca2:)e. ^\niile thej" apjjear anxious, they are 

 not bold and will not attack you if you touch their 

 young. Possibly this is because they consider a 

 habit of theirs to be the best means of defense, and 

 expect the yoimg to protect themselves in the same 

 manner. Their method of warfare is quite as 

 luiique and effective as that of the skunk. The 

 staple food of these birds is carrion, and when 

 angry or disturbed tliey present you ^\ith their par- 

 tiallj" digested dinners. The question whether 

 birds have much sense of smell — above all, whether 

 a vulture can smell itself — long has been discussed 

 among scientists. No bird or animal is offensive 

 to itself, but vidtures must have some hazy knowl- 

 edge that this act on their ])art is disgusting to mor- 

 tals; else, why the inclination, even in the newly- 

 hatched young? A great amount of flight and pa- 

 tient searching is required to seciu'e a vulture's 

 chosen food; surely they would not be so ready 

 to part with it if they did not know the act would 

 secure for them the immunity it usuallj^ does. 



Vidtures remain in the '^^'oods and fields until 

 late in the fall, probably because their young need 

 much practice before they have the strength and 

 agility of wing for migration. T^sually the leaves 



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