44 



LE VAILLANT'S NATURAL HISTORY 



wood. The last layer, on which the female lays her eggs, consists en- 

 tirely of soft materials. The eyry, thus constructed, may be four or five 

 feet in diameter, and two feet in thickness, and is of an irregular form. 

 It lasts, as I have said, for many years, and, it may be, during- the whole 

 life of the same pair, if no danger has at any time presented itself to 

 induce them to change their place of habitation. 



From the gradual decay of a great mass of bones belonging to different 

 quadrupeds, which I found at the foot of a very large tree on which one 

 of these eyries was built, and from different layers of animal remains on 

 the outer surface of the eyry being intermixed with the bones, it might 

 not have been impossible to have made out its age and to have ascertained 

 how often it had been repaired to meet the necessities of a young family. 



When a district does not furnish a suitable tree to the Griffard for the 

 construction of his eyry, he builds it among rocks. As in this case a 

 foundation is not requisite, a bed of moss is placed immediately upon the 

 rock, in which circumstances the eggs are invariably deposited among 

 small wood, and never upon softer materials. 



I have observed that this bird prefers an isolated tree for his abode, 

 probably in consequence of his being very suspicious, and of his being 

 desirous to observe what passes around him. On rocks, moreover, his 

 brood is more likely to become the prey of several species of small car- 

 nivorous quadrupeds, which, precisely because they are small, are the 

 more formidable to him. It is the same among men ; weak and pusilla- 

 nimous enemies being often the most dangerous. 



The female GrifTard lays two perfectly white, nearly round eggs, about 

 three inches and a few lines in diameter. While she is sitting, the male 

 attends to all her wants, and provides also for the young when hatched, 

 till they can be left without danger ; but afterwards, when they are 

 increased in growth, they require so much food, that the parent birds 

 are both obliged to hunt for them in order to satisfy their insatiable 

 appetites. Their voracity is so great, that some Hottentots told me 

 they had lived for nearly two months on what they took daily from two 

 Griffards, whose eyry was in their neighbourhood; and I think thi s 

 credible enough, after what I witnessed myself of one of these birds, 

 which I kept for some time alive, and which I caught by my shot hav- 

 ing only broken the pinion of the wing. This bird refused to take 

 any of the food which I offered it for three entire days, but I found it 

 impossible afterwards to satisfy its voracity. It became furious at the 

 sight of meat ; would swallow pieces entire, of nearly a pound weight ; 

 and would never refuse any although its craw was sometimes so full that 

 I was forced to make it disgorge a portion, though it was not long before 



