BIRDS OF PREY AND OWLS 
79 
horizon in vain for a sign of these birds, yet, should a camel from a caravan fall out and die, 
or men fall in warfare, within an incredibly short space of time a crowd of vultures would be 
squabbling over the dead. Some held that the vulture was guided by scent, others by sight, 
and this latter view is now almost universally accepted. The bird’s natural habit of soaring 
at an immense height enables it to survey not only immense tracts of country, but the 
actions of its neighbours soaring at the same altitude, though perhaps miles away. So soon 
as one descries food it betrays the fact by its actions, making off in the direction of the 
prospective feast; it is then followed immediately by its yet more distant neighbour, and this 
by a third, and so the first serves as a guide to all the other soaring birds for miles around. 
This flight has been admirably expressed by Long- 
fellow in “ Hiawatha.” 
We need here mention only one or two of the 
more important species of vulture, and among these 
one of the most interesting is the LaMxMERGEIR, or 
Bearded Vulture. This species is one of the least 
vulture-like of the tribe, not only in general appear- 
ance, but also in habits, and is to be regarded as 
near the ancestral stock, whose descendants have 
become more and more addicted to feeding upon 
dead bodies. 
The lammergeir, or bearded vulture, is a bird 
of large size and majestic flight, differing from all 
other vultures in that the head and neck are clothed 
in feathers, whilst the nostrils are covered by long 
bristles. Beneath the bill hangs a tuft of bristles 
like those covering the nostrils ; hence its name of 
Bearded Vulture ; and this, coupled with a remarkable 
red rim to the eyes, gives the bird an almost diabolical 
appearance. It lives partly upon living animals and 
partly upon carrion, bones apparently being especially 
relished ; these it breaks by dropping them from a 
height upon the rocks below, probably to get at the 
marrow. Land-tortoises are treated in a similar 
manner, and it was possibly this species which 
caused the death of the poet Alschylus, on whose 
bare head a tortoise is alleged to have been dropped. 
It was at one time common in Europe, and is still 
fairly numerous in West Africa, though rare in the 
East and South. Many stories are told of its 
strength and daring, some of which concern the 
carrying off of young children ; but these are prob- 
ably mythical, modern observers generally agreeing that the bird is by nature far from 
courageous. 
The more typical vultures differ from the lammergeir in having the head and neck more 
or less bare, and often conspicuously coloured, or covered with a short velvety down. The 
Cinereous, Griffon, Pondicherry, and Egyptian Vultures maybe cited as examples of these. 
The Cinereous or Black Vulture is a heavy and repulsive-looking bird, feeding entirely 
on garbage. On the wing, however, this vulture shares with its relatives the admiration of all 
who have been privileged to watch it; sailing in graceful circles in the blue sky of the tropics, 
or hurrying from all quarters of the compass to some ghoulish feast, it forms a spectacle, once 
seen, never to be forgotten. It is found on both sides of the Mediterranean, and extends 
eastwards to India and China. 
i^hoto by Charles Knight^ 
bearded 
\j4ldershot 
VULTURE 
It is called the Bearded Vulture on account of the tuft of 
bristles hanging from the chin 
