BLACK VULTURE. 
47 
being scarcely found beyond Wilmington in North Car- 
olina, and seems to be most numerous and familiar in 
the large maritime towns of South Carolina, Georgia, 
and Florida : thus, though abundant in Savannah, there 
are much fewer of this species at Augusta than of the 
Turkey Vulture. In the tropical regions of America 
they are also very common, and extend at least as far as 
Chili. Like the former species, with which they associ- 
ate only at meal-times, they are allowed a public protec- 
tion for the service they render in ridding the earth of 
carrion and other kinds of filth. They are much more 
familiar in the towns than the preceding ; delighting, dur- 
ing winter, to remain on the roofs of houses, catching the 
feeble rays of the sun, and stretching out their wings to 
admit the warm air over their foetid bodies. When the 
weather becomes unusually chilly, or in the mornings, 
they may be seen basking upon the chimneys in the 
warm smoke, which, as well as the soot itself, can add 
no additional darkness or impurity to such filthy and 
melancholy spectres. Here, or on the limbs of some of 
the larger trees, they remain in listless indolence till 
aroused by the calls of hunger. 
Their flight is neither so easy nor so graceful as that of 
the Turkey-Buzzard. They flap their wings and then 
soar horizontally, renewing the motion of their pinions 
at short intervals. At times, however, they rise to con- 
siderable elevations. In the city of Charleston and 
Savannah they are to be seen in numbers walking the 
streets with all the familiarity of domestic fowls, exam- 
ining the channels and accumulations of filth in order to 
glean up the offal, or animal matter of any kind, which 
may happen to be thrown out. They appeared to be very 
regular in their attendance around the shambles, and 
some of them become known by sight. This was partio 
