281 
BIRDS OP PREY. VULTURES. 
lures, we shall briefly trace the affinities of the whole order. 
These, notwithstanding their great size, are cowardly 
birds ; the filthiness of their food, which is principally 
carrion, imparts to their whole body a fetid odour, which 
nature has rendered a means of defence; for, if seized 
during the torpid inactivity which succeeds their meals, 
they immediately disgorge the nauseous contents of their 
crop over the luckless captor, who is thus, by a sudden 
impulse of loathing, obliged to relinquish his hold. But, 
that those parts of the bird which come in contact with 
its offensive food should not be soiled and matted to- 
gether, the whole of the head (and frequently a great 
part of the neck), is entirely destitute of feathers ; while 
those on the rest of the body have a certain elasticity 
and glossiness which enables the bird, by a few sudden 
shakes, to cleanse itself at once from any fragments that 
remain upon its plumage. The vultures are the great 
scavengers of nature in hot latitudes, where putrefac- 
tion is most rapid, and most injurious to health ; and 
the disposition of their numbers is regulated, by an 
all- wise Creator, according to their usefulness. They 
are sparingly scattered over the south of Europe: in 
Egypt they are more numerous ; but in tropical America, 
although the species are fewer, the individuals are much 
more plentiful. No sooner is an animal dead, than its 
carcass is surrounded by numbers of these birds, who 
suddenly appear, coming from all quarters, in situations 
where not one had just before been seen. The naked- 
ness of the head, and frequently of the neck, is most 
apparent in those whose geographic range is limited to 
the new world, at the head of which division stands two 
remarkable species, — the celebrated condor of the Andes, 
Sarcoramphtis Condor* {Jig. 1)0.), and the Papa, or king 
vulture of the Brazilian forests. The first is well known 
for the loftiness of its flight, and its amazing strength , 
while the latter is the only species whose colouring is 
» So inaccurate is the flfture of the head of this bird 
Humboldt, that the nostrils have been altogether omitted ! 1 ney ate verj 
conspicuously longitudinal and oval. 
