66 0^3\ClTH0L0qt. Book II. 



Chap. IV. 

 Of Vultures in general. 



N He Chara&eriftic notes of Vultures axe, I. That for bignefs they are equal to, 

 or exceed Eagles. 2. That their Beaks are not prefently from their firft rife 

 from the Forehead crooked and bending, but after about two Inches con- 

 tinued ftreightnefs 5 which Gefner faith, he himfelf hath obferved in many forts of 

 Vultures. 3. That they have an excellent fagacity of fmelling above all other Birds, 

 fo that they can perceive the favour of dead Carcaffes from far, [ many miles off they 

 fay.] 4. The Ancients have delivered, that they are content only with deadCar- 

 cafl'es, abftaining from the ravine and Daughter of living Animals. But Bellonius, 

 Gefner, and others of the Moderns affirm, that they purfuelive Birds, and prey up- 

 on living Fawns, Hare^ Kids, Lambs, &c. 5. That they have the neck for the raoft 

 part bare of feathers. 6. Bellonius afferts, that among all Rapacious and hook-bill'd 

 birds Vultures only afTemble and fly together in flocks 5 and that himfelf (aw great 

 flights of them, of not fewer than fifty in each , when he travelled from Cairo to 

 Mount Sinai. Hence that obfervation of Arijlotle, Ta^m^v v$iv a'^Aa/W, is 

 proved not to hold generally true in all Rapacious Birds. 7. That their Legs are 

 feathered down to the Feet : By which note Bellonius thinks they are tobediftin- 

 guifhedfrom other Birds of prey. But neither is this note common to all Vultures, 

 Bellonius himfelf reprefenting fbme with naked legs 5 nor proper to the Vulturine kind} 

 but alfo common to fome Eagles, as appears by their figures and defcriptions. 8. That 

 under their throats they have a fpace of about an hand-breadth, clothed rather with 

 hairs, like to thofe of a Calf, than with feathers. Which note we- found to be true 

 in the Vulture kept in the Royal Aviary in St. James's Park London. 9. That the 

 Craw hangs down like a bag before the ftomach or bread: , which we obferved in the 

 Venetian Vulture or Gypaetos, defcribed in the precedent Chapter. 10. That the Fe- 

 male, contrary to the manner of other Birds of prey, doth not exceed the Male in 

 bignefs. n. That all the infide of the Wings is covered with a foft fleece of 

 Down 3 which is peculiar to the Vulture alone among Rapacious Birds. What is deli- 

 vered of the generation of Vultures, w's.That there are no Males found among them : 

 That the Females are impregnated by the Wind 5 that they bring not forth Eggs, but 

 live Young, &c. is altogether falfe and frivolous, fcarce worth the mentioning, much 

 lefs the refuting. Among the marks hitherto reckoned up, the molt, proper Chara- 

 creriftic of a Vulture feems to me to be that of having its nec\ bare or deftitute of fea- 

 thers, and only covered with a Down. Thofe two, I am fure, which alone we 

 have hapned to fee, had not only their necks, but their heads alfo bare, covered only 

 with a fhort white Down. 



Chap.V. §. I. 



* Of federal of Vultures. 



Ldrovandus out of Bellonius and Gefner fets forth fix feveral forts of Vul- 

 tures : 



The cinereous i- ^ i. The cinereous or alh-coloured Vulture. 



vukure. 2# xhe blackVulture. Of which he faith, he wonders, why Bellonius (who boafts 



vukure? that he had fo great opportunity and facility of feeing and getting divers forts ) fliould 



give no perfect defcription, neither of the one, nor the other, but only fet forth a 



figure; which yet doth not agree to what he writes of Vultures in general, viz. That 



they all have rough legs, wholly feathered down to the foot, and do by this mark.difjer from 



Eagles, it being reprefented with naked legs. 



The tetic or 3. The Chefnut-coloured Vulture [ Btetitus'] which Bellonius thus defcribes : It is 



chefnucco- f ome whatlefs than an Eagle, hath the feathers of its Neck, Back, Belly, and whole 



turedcfai." bodyof aChefnut-colour, wherein it differs from the black Vulture. The greater 



bed. feathers of the Wings and Train are of the fame colour with thofe of the Black. Both 



[ this and the black ] have fhort tails inrefped of their very long Wings. Thefe do 



not, as in other Rapacious Fowl, follow the nature and conftitution of the Wings, 



but 



