KING VULTURE. 39 



America. Pie adds that, mischievous as they 

 are in a few instances*, yet, by the wise and be- 

 neficent dispensations of Providence, they make in 

 the hot chmates full recompence, by lessening the 

 number of those destructive animals the Alligators, 

 which would otherwise become intolerable by their 

 multitudes. During the season in which these 

 reptiles lay their eggs in the sand, the Vultures 

 will sit hid in the leaves of the trees, watching the 

 coming of the female Alligator to deposit its eggs> 

 who then covers them with sand to secure them, 

 as she imagines, from all danger ; but no sooner 

 does she retire into the water, than the birds dart 

 on the spot, and with claws, wings, and beak, tear 

 away the sand, and devour the contents of the 

 whole depository." 



KING VULTURE. 



Vultur Papa. V. albido rufescens, capite coUoque denudatis 

 variegatis, naribus caruncula laxa crocea, collo torque cmo. 



Whitish-rufescent Vulture, with naked variegated head and 

 neck J nostrils furnished with a loose orange-coloured ca- 

 runcle, and neck with a grey ruff. 

 ' Vultur Papa, V, Naribus carunculatis, vertice colloque denudato, 

 Lin. Syst. Nat. 



The King of the Vultures. Edw, pL 2. 



This bird, which exceeds every other species 

 of Vulture in the elegance of its appearance, is 



* They are sometimes known to attack cattle in a weak or 

 diseased state and destroy them. 



