172 
INSESSORES. 
of our best friends. In the warm cities of the South, 
(for it is here that these birds are most abundant), 
troops of them, in company with the Black Vultures, 
may be found almost daily performing the office of 
scavengers. They are to be seen walking or flying 
about the streets, frequenting the markets or sham- 
bles, and greedily snatching up the pieces of flesh 
which are thrown away by the butchers, and even 
attempting, when opportunity offers, to help them- 
selves from the benches where meat is exposed for 
sale ; thus the air is, in great measure, kept free from 
the foul effluvia which would otherwise be created by 
the accumulation of such substances. They will also 
follow the carcass of a horse or cow as it is dragged 
through the streets, and upon its being deposited in 
the suburbs, will even dispute possession with the 
dogs which assemble to assist in devouring it; but 
should Eagles make their appearance on such occa- 
sions, the Vultures retire, and patiently wait until 
their second turn comes, when they immediately 
commence again in all the hurry of a keen appetite, 
and seldom stop until the whole is consumed. 
The California Vulture is another species similar 
in its habits and appearance, although much larger, 
it being the largest bird known to exist north of the 
isthmus of Darien, almost equalling the far-famed 
Condor of the Andes, to which it is closely allied.* 
* The Condor, being a large and powerful bird, is, even 
under unfavorable circumstances, almost a match for a full- 
grown man. Captain Head relates the following anecdoto 
