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freedom, or the luxuriance oi the pafture v/hert 
it is produced, may eafily have occafioned. 
UTAMA.NIA. A bird of the web -footed 
kind, without the hinder toe, common about the 
iiland of Crete, and remarkable for it's activity 
and agility in diving. It is nearly of the fize of 
a teal. The head and back are black; and the 
belly is white. The feathers refemble down ra- 
ther than plumage; but, .though foft and (lender, 
they are very firmly, affixed to the fkin. The 
beak is fliarp at the edges, and in a great meafure 
Covered with down. 
' , From the dcfcription and figure given us by 
Belionius, it appears that this bird has a ftrong 
affinity to the razor-bill, rf indeed at all differing 
from it. 
VUBARANA. An American fifhof the ha- 
rengiform kind, nearly refembling our river-trout. 
It's body is almoft of an equal thicknefs the whole 
length; but is flightly elevated on the back, and 
fomewhat (lender near the tail. It grows to the 
length of one foot, and is about fix inches in thick- 
nefs. The flefh is very delicate, and much 
Cfteemed. 
VULPANSER. An appellation by which 
fome autliors exprefs the ihieldrake, or burrow- 
duck; a very beautiful fpecies of duck, common 
on fome of our coafls, and denominated tadorna 
by the generality of ornithologifts. 
VULPECULA. A name by which Bello- 
ftius and Gefner exprefs the fifli more generally 
known by the appellation of centrine. 
VULPES. The claffical appellation for the 
fox. 
VuLPEs Marina. See Sea-Fox. 
■ VULTURE. A genus of birds of the hawk 
kind. The charaflers are thefe: the bill is 
ftraight, being hooked only at the extremity; the 
head is deftitute of feathers ; the bafe of the bill is 
■6overcd with a naked fl^in ; and the tongue is bi- 
fid. Ivinnjeus enumerates eight fpecies ; namely, 
the gryphus, or condor; the harpyia, or crefted 
eagle; the papa king of Vultures; themonachus; 
the aura, or urubu. of Brazil; the bearded, golden, 
or Bcetic Vulture of Egypt; and the albiulla, or 
pygargus.' 
In the defcription of birds, the firft rank has 
ufually been adjudged to the eagle; not becaufe 
of it's being flronger or larger than the Vulture, 
but becaufe it is more generous and intrepid. The 
eagle, unlefs prelTed by hunger, will not be fatif- 
fied with carrion ; nor will he ever devour what has 
not been earned by his own purfuit: the Vulture, 
on the contrary, is indelicately voracious ; and (el- 
dom attacks living animals when it can be fup- 
pliedwith dead ones. The eagle meets, and fin- 
gly oppofes his enemy: the Vulture, if it expeds 
refiftance, calls in the aid of it's kind, and bafely 
overpowers it's prey by a cowardly combination. 
Futrefadion and flench, inftead of deterring, only 
lerve to allure them. The Vulture is am.ong birds 
what the jackall and hyasna are among qua- 
drupeds; it preys on carcafes, and difinters the 
dead. 
■ Vultures are eafily diftinguifned from birds of 
the eagle kind by the nakednefs of their heads and 
necks, which have no other covering than a very 
flight down, or a few fcattered hairs. Their eyes 
are more prominent, thofe of the eagle being in a 
great meafure buried in their fockets; their claws 
are alfo fliorcer, and lefs hooked. They differ 
"eqn^derably from all otUer birds of prey, in hav- 
V UL 
1 ing the infide of their wings covered with a thlct 
down; their attitude lefs ereft" than that of the 
eagle; and their flight more difficult and heav)-. 
They are ftlW m.ore ftrongly marked by their na- 
ture, which, as before obferved, is cruel, indolent, 
and unclean. Their fenfe of fmelling is amazingU' 
perfe<5V, nature having fupplied them with two 
large apertures or noflrils without, and an exten- 
five olfaftorymiembrane within. Their inteftines 
are differently fhaped from thofe of the eagle kind, 
for they partake more of the form of fuch birds 
as live on grain. They h^ve both a crop and a 
flomach ; and, in faft, from their internal ftruc- 
ture, it would feem that they are equally adapted 
for a carnivorous or frugivorous life. 
Vultures, though common in many parts <lf 
Europe, and but coo well known on the Weftern 
Continent, are abfolute flrangers in England. In 
Arabia, Egypt, and many other kingdoms of 
Africa and Afia, they are extremely numerous ; 
and the down on the infide of their wings is con- 
verted into a very warm and comfortable kind of 
fur, and commonly fold in the Afiatic markets. 
Thefe birds are of fingular fervice in Egypt. 
In the vicinity of Grand Cairo there are large 
flocks of them, which none are permitted to de- 
ftroy, becaufe they devour all the carrion and fiMi 
of that great city, which might otherwife tend to 
contaminate the air. They accompany the wild 
dogs of that country; and frequently feed with 
them very deliberately on dead carcafes. As both 
are extremely voracious, and both lean and bony 
to a very great degree, it is remarkable that this 
odd aflbciation produces no quarrek: on the con- 
trary, thefe birds and beafts feem to live together 
on very amicable terms. 
In America, where the hunters purfuc quadru- 
peds only for the fake of their flcins, thefe birds 
are generally obferved to attend. They continue 
hovering at a little diftance; and, as foon as the 
animal is flayed and abandoned, rhey call to each 
other, -fly eagerly to the carcafe, iand in a very 
fhort time lay the bones entirely bare. 
At the G-a-pe of Good Hope, thefe predaceou5 
birds feem to difcover a ftill greater fhare of dex- 
terity in their methods of carving.- * I have,* 
fays Kolben, * been often afpeftator of the man- 
ner in which they have anatomized a dead body; 
I fay anatoiTiized, for no artifl in the world would 
have done it with more addrefs. They have a 
wonderful method of feparating the flefh from the 
bones, and yet leaving the fkin quite entire. On 
coming near the carcafe, one v/ould not fuppofe it 
thus deprived of it's internal fubflance, till he be- 
gan to examine it riTore clofely; he then finds it, 
literally fpeaking, nothing but flcin and bone. 
Their manner of performing this operation is as 
follows: they firfl make an aperture in the belly 
of the animal, from whence they pluck out and 
greedily devour the entrails; then entering into 
the hollow they have made, they feparate the flefh 
from the bones, widiout ever injuring the fkin. 
It often happens that an ox, returning home alone 
to it's flail from the plough, lies down by the way: 
it is then, if the Vultures perceive it, that they fall 
with fury dov/n, and inevitably devour the unfor- 
tunate animal. They fometimes alfo attempt 
them grazing in the fields; and then, to the num- 
ber of an hundred, or more, make their attack all 
at once and together.' 
Catefby informs us, that they are attradVed by 
carrion at a very great diflanee. * It is pleafant,' 
fayt 
