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NATURAL HISTORY. 
12. In Egypt there are great flocks of Vultures, 
which render a most important service to the inhab- 
itants, by devouring all the filth and carrion, which 
would otherwise render the air pestilential. The 
ancient Egyptians were so sensible of the utility of 
this bird, that they made it a capital crime to put one 
of them to death. 
13. In Brazil they are very serviceable by devour- 
ing the eggs of the alligator, and thus checking their 
increase. When the female alligator lays her eggs 
in the sand by the side of a river, the Vultures watch 
her motions from some neighbouring forest, and, on 
her departure, fly to the spot, lay the eggs bare, and 
devour them whole. 
THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 
14. The Golden Eagle is the largest and noblest 
of the Eagle species. As the lion is considered the 
What is said of the Vultures of Egypt ? of the Vultures of Brazil 1 
