86 THE WONDERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



cannot be too thankful to Providence for supplying them with these active scavengers to cleanse their 

 towns and villages of the filth and putridity which otherwise, under a burning sun, would fill the atmo- 

 sphere with the most noxious exhalations. In Palestine they are of infinite service in destroying the 

 vast multitude of rats and mice which breed in the fields, and which without their assistance would, 

 devour the whole fruits of the ground. They also frequent the deserts, and there devour the bodies 

 of men and animals which perish in those desolate regions. They every year follow the caravan from 

 Egypt to Mecca in order to feast upon the flesh of slaughtered beasts, and the carcasses of the camels 

 which die on the journey. So little are these birds alarmed by the presence of mankind, that they 

 will not even quit the places which they haunt even when fired at with guns, but after a short flight 

 they immediately return. If one of them be killed, the rest surround and devour it. 



They frequent all the country in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, and are so familiar, that 

 they often descend in great numbers near the entrance to the shambles of Cape Town, and there 

 devour the heads, entrails, and other offal of the animals slaughtered for the market. On the sea- 

 shores they are also very abundant, voraciously devouring all such animal substances as have been 

 thrown upon the coast by the tides. They subsist likewise on crabs, tortoises, shell-fish and even 

 locusts. Ravenous, however, as these birds usually are, they are capable of existing for a great length 

 of time without food. In the deserts their subsistence is sometimes very precarious. M. le Vaillant 

 states that in the crop of some that he had killed, he found nothing but pieces of bark, or a small 

 quantity of clay; in the crop of others he found only bones; and again in others the dung of 

 animals. When urged by hunger, they are frequently known to devour their own species. Kolben 

 says, it often happens that an ox returning home alone to its stall from the plough, lies down by the 

 way ; it is then, if the vultures perceive it, that they fall upon it with fury, and inevitably devour the 

 unfortunate animal. They sometimes attempt the oxen in the fields, and to the number of a hundred. 

 or more make the sudden attack altogether. 



The bodies of the vultures in general are extremely offensive to the smell, and they perch at night 

 on rocks or trees with their wings partly extended, apparently to purify themselves. They soar some- 

 times to a vast height, and have in the air the sailing motions of the kite. Carrion and filth of almost 

 every description are their favourite food, and from the acuteness of their scent, they can distinguish 

 prey at an immense distance. They will even eat snakes, and sometimes seize on live lambs. When 

 a dead body of any considerable size is thrown out, they may be observed coming from all quarters, 

 each wheeling about in gradual descent till he reaches the ground. They are not easily driven from 

 their prey, but when in the act of devouring it, the}' will suffer persons to approach very near them. 



The condur of South America forms the tvpe of a genus, a second species of which is the vulture 

 papa of Linnaeus, the king of the vultures of British writers. It has been observed, says Mr. Vigors, 

 throughout the whole range of that immense chain of mountains which traverses the continent of South 

 America, from the Straits of Magellan to the seventh degree of north latitude. It appears, however, 

 to be much more common in Peru and Chili than in any other part of the chain ; and is most fre- 

 quently met with, at an elevation of from ten to fifteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. 



