38 
THE TURKEY BUZZARD. 
hog and the little pig ; and then he will be able to 
draw his own conclusion as to the blindness of the 
vultures during the first experiment, and their 
keenness of vision during the second. 
I will now take a peep at the vultures marshalled 
in aerial columnsc 
The author tells us, " a flock of twenty may easily 
survey an area of two miles, as they go turning in 
large circles, often intersecting each other in their 
lines, as if forming a vast chain of rounded links ; 
some are high, whilst others are low; not a spot is 
passed over unseen ; and, consequently, the moment 
a prey is discovered, the favoured bird rounds to, 
and, by the impetuosity of its movements, gives 
notice to its nearest companion, who immediately 
follows him, and is successively attended by all the 
rest. Thus the farthest from the discoverer, being 
at a considerable distance, sails in a direct line 
towards the spot indicated to him by the flight of 
the others, who have all gone in a straight course 
before him, with the appearance of being impelled 
by this extraordinary power of smelling, so errone- 
ously granted them," Here I break the quotation, 
to ask the question, how are the hindermost vul- 
tures, which are successively attending to the notice 
given by the favoured bird, in order to profit by it, 
to know whether the favoured bird has alighted upon 
some large carrion, or a diminutive garter snake ? 
The leader vulture, according to our author's former 
experiment, would be equally liable to fall down 
upon the one as upon the other ; and though he 
might get a mouthful, the rest would be sorely dis- 
