Mr. Home's Lecture 
it 
15 miles north of the city of Marshedabad; they killed a 
wild hog of an uncommon size, and left it upon the ground 
near their tent. About an hour after it was killed they were 
walking near the spot where it lay ; the sky was perfectly 
clear, not a cloud to be seen, and a dark spot in the air at a 
great distance attracted their notice ; it appeared gradually to 
increase in size, and moved directly towards them : as it ad- 
vanced it proved to be a vulture, flying in a direct line to the 
dead animal, on which it alighted, and began to feed voraci- 
ously. In less than an hour, 70 other vultures came in all 
directions, some horizontally, but most of them from the up- 
per regions of the air, in which a few minutes before nothing 
could be seen. Mr. Baber was so much struck with the cir- 
cumstance at the moment, that he said to his friends, Mil- 
ton's poetical description of the vulture, being lured to its 
prey by the smell, would not apply to what they had just 
seen. 
Volney, in his travels through Egypt, mentions a circum- 
stance somewhat similar. He says, “ the conspicuous situa- 
“ tion of Aleppo brings numbers of birds thither, and affords 
“ the curious a very singular amusement : if you go after din- 
“ ner on the terraces of the houses, and make a motion as if 
“ throwing bread, numerous flocks of birds will fly instantly 
“ around you, though at first you cannot discover one ; but 
“ they are floating aloft in the air, and descend in a moment to 
“ seize in their flight the morsels of bread which the inhabi- 
“ tants frequently amuse themselves with throwing to them."* 
This account of Volney is confirmed by my friend Dr. Russel, 
who has furnished me with an additional fact upon this sub- 
® Volney, English Translation, Vol. II. chap. 27, page 154. 
