696 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



that he would soon have the opportunity of seeing a most notorious thief, well known 

 by his lame leg ; and the bird, making his appearance soon after, completely justified 

 his reputation. The traveler was also informed that this urubu knew perfectly well 

 the days of distribution in the diflferent missions ; and eight days later, while witness- 

 ing a similar scene at Magdalena, twenty leagues distant, he heard the Indians exclaim, 

 and looking up saw his lame acquaintance of Concepcion hurrying to the spot, with 

 the anxious mien of one that is afraid of missing a meal. The padres in both missions 

 assured him that the vulture never failed to make his appearance at the stated time ; 

 a remarkable instance of memory, or highly developed instinct in a bird. *' If you 

 dissect a vulture," says Watcrton, " that has just been feeding on carrion, you must 

 expect that your olfactory nerves will be somewhat ofi^ended with the rank effluvia 

 from his craw, just as they would be were you to dissect a citizen after the lord-mayor's 

 dinner. If, on the contrary, the vulture be empty at the time you commence the oper- 

 ation, there will be no offensive smell, but a strong scent of musk." 



The Harpy Eagle ( Thrasa'etus harpyia) is one of the finest of all the rapacious 

 birds. The enormous development of his beak and legs, and his consequent strength 

 and power in mastering his prey, correspond with his bold and noble bearing, and the 

 fierce lustre of his eye. His whole aspect is that of formidably organized power, and even 

 the crest adds much to his terrific appearance. *' Among many singular birds and 

 curiosities," says Mr. Edwards, in his " Voyage up the Amazon," '* that were brought 

 to us, was a young harpy eagle, a most ferocious looking character, with a harpy's 

 crest and a beak and talons in correspondence. He was turned loose into the garden, 

 and before long gave us a sample of his powers. With erected crest and flashing 

 eyes, uttering a frightful shriek, he pounced upon a young ibis, and quicker than 

 thought had torn his reeking liver from his body. The whole animal world there was 

 wild with fear." 



The harpy attains a greater size than the common eagle. He chiefly resides in the 

 damp lowlands of tropical America, where Prince Maximilian of Neu Wied met with 

 him only in the dense forests, perched on the high branches. The monkey, vaulting 

 by means of his tail from tree to tree, mocks the pursuit of the tiger-cat and boa, but 

 woe to him if the harpy spies him out, for, seizing him with lightning-like rapidity, he 

 cleaves his skull with one single stroke of his beak. Fear seems to be totally unknown 

 to this noble bird, and he defends himself to the last moment. D'Orbigny relates 

 that one day, while descending a Bolivian river in a boat with some Indians, they 

 severely wounded a harpy with their arrows, so that it fell from the branch on which 

 it had been struck. Stepping out of the canoe, the savages now rushed to the spot 

 where the bird lay, knocked it on the head, and tearing out the feathers of its wings, 

 brought it for dead to the boat. Yet the harpy awakened from his trance, and furi- 

 ously attacked his persecutors. Throwing himself upon D'Orbigny, he pierced his 

 hand through and through with the only talon that had been left unhurt, while the 

 mangled remains of the other tore his arm, which at the same time he lacerated with 

 his beak. Two men were hardly able to release the naturalist from the attacks of the 

 ferocious bird. 



On turning from the New to the Old World, we find other but not less interesting 

 predatory birds sweep through the higher regions of the air in quest of prey. The 

 gigantic oricou, or Sociable Vulture ( Vultur auricularis), inhabits the greater part of 



