40 



THE TURKEY BUZZARD. 



highest branches of trees till their dinner be suffi- 

 ciently digested. The author tells us that the first 

 " are easily seen by other vultures, who, through 

 habit, know the meaning of such stoppages." I wish 

 the author had told us how he became informed of this 

 knowledge^ which the " other vultures " had acquired 

 of these stoppages. Let us suppose for an instant 

 that the latter comers, after travelling " hundreds of 

 miles,'* had unluckily mistaken the group of vultures 

 perched on high trees ; and, in lieu of arriving at the 

 tree under which dinner was waiting for them, they 

 had got to the tree under which all the dinner had 

 been eaten up. Pray, what were the hungry scaven- 

 gers to do ? Were they to proceed, " hundreds of 

 miles*' farther, upon an empty stomach, in quest of 

 more stoppages ? or were they to wait in patience, 

 with the vultures perched on high dead limbs of 

 trees, till those stomach-filled birds should have 

 digested their food, and were ready to start afresh ? 

 The author assures us, that " vultures perched on 

 high dead limbs, in such conspicuous positions, are 

 easily seen by other vultures, who, through habit, 

 know the meaning of such stoppages : " but then we 

 have only his bare word for this extraordinary cir- 

 cumstance ; and, notwithstanding what he has said, 

 my opinion is, that the coming-up vultures would 

 just as often have the bad luck to find themselves 

 arrived at the tree under which the dinner had 

 been all eaten up, as the good luck to get to the 

 tree under which dinner was to be found too tough 

 to be eaten immediately. 



Towards the end of the account, our author tells 



