﻿BIRDS OF PREY. VULTURES. 



281 



tureSy we shall briefly trace the affinities of the whole order. 

 These, notwithstanding their great size, are cowardly- 

 birds : the filthiness of their food, which is principally 

 carrion, imparts to their whole body a fetid odour, which 

 nature has rendered a means of defence ; for, if seized 

 during the torpid inactivity which succeeds their meals, 

 they immediately disgorge the nauseous contents of their 

 crop over the luckless captor, who is thus, by a sudden 

 impulse of loathing, obliged to relinquish his hold. But, 

 that those parts of the bird which come in contact with 

 its offensive food should not be soiled and matted to- 

 gether, the whole of the head (and frequently a great 

 part of the neck), is entirely destitute of feathers ; while 

 those on the rest of the body have a certain elasticity 

 and glossiness which enables the bird, by a few sudden 

 shakes, to cleanse itself at once from any fragments that 

 remain upon its plumage. The vultures are the great 

 scavengers of nature in hot latitudes, where putrefac- 

 tion is most rapid, and most injurious to health ; and 

 the disposition of their numbers is regulated, by an 

 all- wise Creator, according to their usefulness. They 

 are sparingly scattered over the south of Europe : in 

 Egypt they are more numerous; but in tropical America, 

 although the species are fewer, the individuals are much 

 more plentiful. No sooner is an animal dead, than its 

 carcass is surrounded by numbers of these birds, who 

 suddenly appear, coming from all quarters, in situations 

 where not one had just before been seen. The naked- 

 ness of the head, and frequently of the neck, is most 

 apparent in those whose geographic range is limited to 

 the new world, at the head of which division stands two 

 remarkable species, — the celebrated condor of the Andes, 

 Sarcoramphus Condor* (Jig. 90.), and the Papa, or king 

 vulture of the Brazilian forests. The first is well known 

 for the loftiness of its flight, and its amazing strength ; 

 while the latter is the only species whose colouring is 



* So inaccurate is the figure of the head of this bird represented by 

 Humboldt, that the nostrils have been altogether omitted ! They are very 

 conspicuously longitudinal and oval. 



