VULTURE. 15 



Vultures in general, while young, are covered with a thick 

 whitish do\vn ; so it is with the present one, giving the appearance, 

 at a distance, of a white bird, but this down is by degrees thrust 

 aside, as the tiue feathers appear. 



Independent of other food, both the last described concur in 

 destroying the eggs of the alligator, which are deposited, to the 

 number at least of 100 in each nest, which is in form of an obtuse 

 cone, four feet high, and more in diameter, being constructed ^vitli 

 mud, grass, and herbage ; in this the eggs are laid, layer upon layer, 

 till the whole is deposited, and they are hatched by the warmth of 

 the sun ; but the Vnltin-es keep watch, and as soon as the alligator 

 departs, scrape away the sand, and destroy as many of the eggs 

 as they can, as they furnish to them a delicate repast. The natives, 

 too, think the eggs far from despicable.* They are a tame species, 

 and walk, without fear, about the town, where the hog butchers 

 reside, in great n umbel's, like domestic fowls, and quarrel with each 

 otherfor the oifal.f 



A.— Vultur Iota, Ind. Orn. i. 5. 8. /3. Molin. Chil. 235. Id. ed. gal. 245. Gm. Lin. 

 i. 247. 5. /3. 



Tliis is said, by Molina, to have a grey bill, with a black point ; 

 the plumage wholly black, except the quills and legs, which are 

 broAvn; head covered with a rough rufous skin. When young the 

 bird is nearly white, changing into black by degrees ; first a black 

 spot appears on the back, which gradually enlarges, till the whole 

 body becomes of that colour. It is described as an indolent species, 

 making a careless nest of diy leaves and feathers, in the hollows of 

 rocks, and sometimes on the ground, and lays two white eggs. 



M. Vieillot, who mentions this bird, thinks that it is not a 

 variety of the foregoing, but a young one, in imperfect plumage. 



* See Bartram's Travels, 

 t Mr. Abbot. 



