26 THE WONDERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



grey ; the feathers of the wings and tail are of a blackish brown ; the beak and claws are nearly- 

 black. Africa, Asia, and the greater part of the south of Europe, may be considered as the natural 

 habitation of the Vulture ; during the summer, it inhabits the more elevated regions, and builds its 

 nest in the rocks, and amongst the most inaccessible precipices. During the winter it migrates to 

 warmer climates, stretching its flight as far as the southern countries of Africa. 



In some of the countries bordering on the torrid zone, these birds haunt the towns and villages 

 in immense multitudes. In Carthagena, the carrion vulture may be seen sitting on the roofs of the 

 houses, or even stalking along the streets. They are, however, in that place, of infinite service to the 

 ^habitants, by devouring that filth which otherwise, by its intolerable stench, would render the climate 

 still more unwholesome than it naturally is. When they find no food in the cities, they seek for it 

 amongst the cattle of the adjoining pastures. If any animal be unfortunate enough to have a sore on 

 its back, they instantly alight on it and attack the part affected. The unhappy beast may in vain 

 attempt to free itself from the gripe of their talons ; even rolling on the ground is of no effect, for 

 the vultures never quit their hold till they have completed its destruction. 



In few creatures are the designs of Providence more clearly developed than in the vulture tribe. 

 Filthy as they are in their manners, their appearance and their smell, yet this filthiness is even a 

 blessing to mankind. In hot climates, where putridity takes place in a few hours after death, what 

 might not be the effects of the ae-ereoated stench, if it were not for the exertion of birds of this 

 description ! But in some countries, they are rendered even of still greater importance to mankind, 

 by destroying the eggs of the alligator, an animal which otherwise must become intolerable by its 

 prodigious increase. They watch the female crocodile in the act of depositing her eggs in the sand, 

 and no sooner does she retire into the water, than they dart to the spot, and feast upon the contents 

 of the effffs. 



In Egypt the vulture appears to be of singular service. In the neighbourhood of Grand Cairo, 

 there are great flocks of them, which no person is permitted to destroy. The service which they 

 render the inhabitants is the devouring of the carrion and filth of that great city, which otherwise 

 would have a tendency to corrupt and putrefy the air. They are commonly seen in company with 

 the wild dogs of the country, tearing a carcase very deliberately together. This odd association, 

 however, is not productive of any quarrels ; the birds and the quadrupeds appear to live amicably, 

 and nothing but harmony subsists between them. The wonder is still the greater, as both are 

 extremely rapacious, and at the same time lean and bony to a very great degree, which probably 

 arises from a scarcity even of the wretched food on which they subsist. 



In Kolben's travels in Africa, speaking of the vultures in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 lie says, " I have often been a spectator of the manner in which they have anatomized a dead body ; 

 I sav anatomized, for no artist in the world could have done it more cleanly. They have a won- 

 derful method of separating the flesh from the bones, and yet leaving the skin quite entire. Their 

 manner of performing the operation is as follows: — they first make an opening in the belly of 

 the animal, from which they pluck out and greedily devour the entrails; then entering into the hollow 

 which they have made, they separate the flesh from the bones, without ever touching the skin. 



The vultures, at least those of Europe, generally lay two eggs at a time, and produce but once 

 a year. They make their nests in inaccessible cliffs, and in places so remote, that it is difficult to find 

 them. Those in our part of the world chiefly reside in the places where they breed, and seldom 

 come down into the plains, except when the snow and ice in their native retreats have banished 

 all living animals but themselves. As carrion is not found at those seasons in sufficient quantity or 

 sufficiently remote from man to sustain them, they prey upon rabbits, hares, serpents, and whatever 

 small game thev can overtake or overpower. 



