64 



HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



colour upon the infide, and upon the outfide are varie- 

 gated with black and tawny. 



The Cozcaquauhtli is called by the Mexicans, king of 

 ihe Zopilots (y) ; and they fay, that when thefe twofpe- 

 cies happen to meet together about the fame carrion, the 

 Zopilot never begins to eat till the Cozcaquauhtli has 

 tafted it. The Zopilot is a mofl ufeful bird to that 

 country, for they not only clear the fields, but attend the 

 crocodiles and deftroy the eggs which the females of thofc 

 dreadful amphibious animals leave in the fand to be 

 hatched by the heat of the fun. The deftru^lion of fuch 

 a bird ought to be prohibited under fevere penalties. 



Among the night birds, are feveral kinds of owls, to 

 which we may add the bats, although they do not pro- 

 perly belong to the clafs of birds. There are great num- 

 bers of bats in the warm and woody countries ; fome of 

 them will draw blood, with dreadful bites, from horfes 

 and other animals. In fome of the very hot countries 

 bats are found of a prodigious fize, but not fo large as 

 thofe of the Philippine Ifles, and other parts of the Eaft. 



Under the title of aquatic birds I fliall comprehend, 

 not only the Palmipedes which fwim and live generally in 



the 



(jy) The bird which now goes by the name of King of the Zopilotsy in New 

 Spain, fcems different from the one we are now defcribing. This modern king 

 of the Zopilots is a ftrong bird, of the fize of a common eagle ; with a ftately 

 air ; ftrong claws ; fine, piercing eyes ; and a beautiful black, white, and tawny 

 plumage. It is remarkable, particularly, for a certain fcarlet-coloured, flefhy 

 fubftance, which furrounds its neck hke a collar, and comes over its head in the 

 form of a little crown. I have had this defcription of it from a perfon of know- 

 ledge and veracity, who affures me that he has feen three different individuals 

 of this fpecies, and particularly that one which was fent from Mexico, in 1750, 

 to the catholic king, Ferdinand VI. He farther informs me, that there was a 

 genuine drawing of this bird, publifhed in a work called, the American Gazet- 

 teer. The Mexican name Cozcaquauhtli ^ which means Ring Eagle, is certainly 

 more applicable to this bird than to the other. The figure exhibited in our 

 plate, is copied from that of the American Gazetteer. 



