THE EAGLE AND THE VULTURE. 123 



that, the dead horse being a large animal, its skin, 

 according to this quotation, must have been too 

 tough to be torn asunder by the vultures, until 

 putrefaction took place. If, then, these vultures 

 really commenced devouring the dead animal while 

 it was yet fresh, Mr. Audubon's theory, just quoted, 

 is worth nothing. If, on the contrary, the horse 

 in question had become sufficiently putrid to allow 

 the vultures to commence operations, then I will 

 show that the aerial account of the eagle and the 

 vulture is either a mere imaginary effusion of the 

 author's fancy, or a hoax played off upon his igno- 

 rance by some designing wag. 



The entrails of a dead animal are invariably the 

 first part to be affected by putrefaction. Now, we 

 are told that a piece of gut had been torn from the 

 rest, and swallowed by the vulture ; a portion of 

 the said gut, about a yard in length, hanging out of 

 his mouth. The vulture, pressed hard by the eagle, 

 tried in vain to disgorge the gut. This is at vari- 

 ance with a former statement, in which Mr. Audu- 

 bon assures us that an eagle will force a vulture to 

 disgorge its food in a moment : so that the validity 

 of this former statement must be thrown overboard, 

 in order to insure the safety of the present adven- 

 ture ; or vice versa, the present adventure must 

 inevitably sink, if the former statement is to be 

 preserved. Be this as it may, the eagle, out of all 

 manner of patience at the clumsiness of the vulture, 

 in his attempt to restore to daylight that part of 

 the gut which was lying at the bottom of his sto- 

 mach, laid hold of the end which was still hanging 



