59$ REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



Lastly, they are specially characterised by their partiality for putrid 

 flesh, which almost forms their exclusive nutriment, as it is only 

 rarely they attack living prey. 



When a Vulture has glutted itself, its crop, swelled by the food 

 which it has devoured, forms a voluminous projection in front of the 

 neck ; a fetid humour oozes from its nostrils, and it remains sunk in 

 a state of stupid torpor until the food is digested. 



They fly heavily, but mount aloft to great altitudes. Their 

 powers of vision are extraordinary. Should a carcase be left on the 

 plain, they immediately see it and drop down, turning over and over 

 in their hurry to arrive at the scene of the anticipated banquet. It 

 has been supposed by some that their olfactory organs are so acute as 

 to smell, at great distances, the emanations which escape from bodies 

 in' a state of decomposition, and thus to account for their prompt 

 attendance. Latterly, however, certain observers have opposed this 

 theory ; according to their ideas the Vulture tribe owe this wonderful 

 facility to their sight, not to scent. This explanation, however, has 

 not as yet been rendered altogether clear. We therefore think it 

 prudent to abstain from pronouncing an absolute judgment on the 

 point, and will content ourselves by admitting that both sight and smell 

 concur in producing the result : these two senses may either exercise 

 an equal power, or one of them may predominate over the other. 



The Vultures exhale a putrid odour, which is owing to the peculiar 

 nature of their nutriment ; it is, therefore, impossible for their flesh 

 to be in any way utilised as food. This family comprises four 

 principal genera : the Gypaeius, the Sarcoramphii, the Catharistce, and 

 the Neophrories. 



.The Lammergeyer (Gypaetus barbatus) form, as their name indi- 

 cates, an intermediate genus between the Eagles and the Vultures. 

 Although they have small and goggle eyes, not very strong talons, 

 and a projecting crop during the digestion of their meals, they are 

 allied to the Eagles in virtue of their feathered tarsi, as well as by their 

 head and neck ; they also show a preference for living prey, which 

 they attack with readiness. We will complete their portrait by 

 stating that they have a very strong beak, enlarged towards the 

 point. 



The Bearded Griffon is the celebrated Lammergeyer, described 

 by Buffon under the name of the Golden Vulture. It owes its name 

 to a tuft of stiff hair which is under the beak : the loftiest mountains 

 of Europe, Asia, and Africa are its habitat. Its aerie, which is of 

 considerable dimensions, is built amongst the most inaccessible 

 rocks. On the old continent it is the largest of all the birds of 



