114 
THE VULTURE. 
they prefer : and justly merit, by the voracity with which 
they devour the most offensive carrion, the name of Sca- 
vengers, in some countries, where they are never destroyed, in 
consequence of the good they do, by consuming the bodies of 
animals that might, but for the assistance of the Vultures, 
breed a pestilence in the hot climates where they most abound. 
A traveller in Africa having killed two buffaloes, and directed 
his party to cut them up piecemeal, and hang the various 
joints on the branches round their tents, that they might he 
dried up under the scorching beams of a burning sun, found 
himself suddenly surrounded by a flight of these birds, who 
actually carried off the flesh, notwithstanding the efforts made 
to drive away or destroy them by shouting, throwing, or even 
shooting at them. As fast as one dropped, another supplied 
his place. Another English traveller, who marched for some 
days with an army in Abyssinia, in a different part of Africa, 
speaks of their numbers as to he compared to the sand of the 
sea, extending over the troops like a black cloud ; they were 
also more courageous than some other species ; for he once 
saw one strike an Eagle to the ground, which had accidentally 
straggled into a host of Vultures, assembled to feed on the 
dead soon after a battle. 
They are, however, sometimes more dainty in their choice 
of food ; as in Egypt, where, during the season when croco- 
diles and alligators lay their eggs in the sand, these cunning 
birds will sit, hid in the leaves of the trees, watching the 
females coming on shore to lay their eggs, which, when laid, 
they cover carefully with sand, thinking, no doubt, that they 
are thus safe from all danger, and sure to he hatched in regular 
course of time by the warmth of the soil, heated as it is by 
the sun ; hut no sooner does she retire, than the concealed 
birds glide down, and with claws, wings, and beak, tear away 
the sand, and quickly devour the hidden treasures. 
A dead crocodile or alligator is equally acceptable ; hut as 
these reptiles are furnished with strong horny or scaly coats, 
like armour, much too strong to he opened and broken into, 
by either beaks or claws, the Vultures are often obliged to 
wait for a long time until the hide of the carcase loosens, and 
