BLACK VULTURE, 
271 
that countenance or protection which is so universally extended to 
them, in the states of South Carolina and Georgia, where they 
abound. 
In one of Wilson’s journals I find an interesting detail of the 
greedy and disgusting habits of this species ; and shall give the 
passage entire, in the same unadorned manner in which it is 
written. 
“February 21, 1809. Went out to Hampstead* this fore- 
noon. A horse had dropped down in the street, in convulsions ; 
and dying, it was dragged out to Hampstead and skinned. The 
ground, for a hundred yards around it, was black with Carrion- 
crows ; many sat on the tops of sheds, fences, and houses within 
sight; sixty or eighty on the opposite side of a small stream. I 
counted at one time two hundred and thirty-seven, but I believe 
there were more, besides several in the air over my head, and at a 
distance. I ventured, cautiously, within thirty yards of the car- 
cass, where three or four dogs, and twenty or thirty Vultures, were 
busily tearing and devouring. Seeing them take no notice, I ven- 
tured nearer, till I was within ten yards, and sat down on the bank. 
Still they paid little attention to me. The dogs being sometimes 
accidentally flapped with the wings of the Vultures, would growl 
and snap at them, which would occasion them to spring up for a 
moment, but they immediately gathered in again. I remarked 
the Vultures frequently attack each other, fighting with their claws 
or heels, striking like a cock, with open wings, and fixing their 
claws in each other’s head. The females, and I believe the males 
likewise, made a hissing sound, with open mouthj exactly resem- 
bling that produced by thrusting a red hot poker into water ; and 
frequently a snuffling, like a dog clearing his nostrils, as I suppose 
they were theirs. On observing that they did not heed me, I stole 
so close that my feet were within one yard of the horse’s legs, and 
^ Near Charleston, South Carolina. 
