2 
HISTORY OF 
birds to which we should be partial from their appearance, yet, 
when we enquire into their habits, we cannot help admiring the 
wisdom of that all-wise Providence, who has supplied scavengers, 
to clear away from the surface of the earth the putrefying bodies 
that would otherwise infect the air we breathe, and spread 
pestilence in their neighbourhood. 
A very acute sense of smelling has been attributed to birds 
of the Vulture tribe, supposed to be the means by which they 
discover their food, the most putrid carcases, at immense dis- 
tances. But the experiments and observations of the American 
ornithologist, Audubon, distinctly prove, that it is the organs 
of sight, and not those of smelling, which enable them to detect 
their food at the distances they are said to do. The following 
are some extracts from his work, “The Birds of America,” on the 
subject: — “It has always appeared to us unaccountable, that 
birds of prey, as Vultures, could scent carcases at such immense 
distances as they are said to do. We were led to call in question 
the accuracy of this opinion, on recollecting the observations of 
some travellers, who have remarked birds of prey directing their 
course towards dead animals floating in the rivers in India, 
where the wind blows steadily from one point in the compass 
for many months in succession. It is not easy to conceive, 
that the effluvia from a putrid carcase, in the water, should 
proceed in direct opposition to the current of air, and affect the 
olfactory nerves of birds at so many miles distant.” 
The following is an account of Audubon’s experiments : — 
Having stuffed and dried the skin of a deer, he retired from 
it : a Vulture soon approached, attacked its eyes, which were 
made of painted clay, then walked to the other extremity, tore 
some of the stitches until much of the fodder and hay. with 
which it was stuffed was pulled out, and after reiterated at- 
tempts to discover flesh, took flight. Afterwards, he had a 
