258 
OBSERVATIONS ON VULTURES. 
cat or fox, swell themselves, and hop sidewise as fast 
as in their power. 
“ The parents, whilst sitting, and equally disturbed, 
act in the same manner, — fly only a very short distance, 
waiting there the departure of the offender to reassume 
their duty. As the young grow larger, the parents 
throw their food merely before them, and, with all 
their exertions, seldom bring their young offspring fat 
to the field. Their nests become so fetid, before the 
final departure of the young birds, that a person forced 
to remain there half an hour, must almost be suffocated. 
“ I have been frequently told that the same pair will 
not abandon their first nests or place of deposit, unless 
broken up during incubation. This would attach to 
the vulture a constancy of affection that I cannot 
believe exists, as I cannot believe that pairing in the 
manner described is of any longer duration than the 
necessitous call of nature for the one season ; and, 
again, were they so inclined, they would never con- 
gregate in the manner they do, but would go in single 
pairs all their lives like eagles. 
“ Vultures do not possess, in any degree, the power 
of bearing off their prey, as falcons do, unless it be 
slender portions of entrails hanging by the bill. When 
chased by others from a carcass, it even renders them 
very awkward in their flight, and forces them to the 
earth again almost immediately. 
“ Many persons in Europe believe that buzzards prefer 
putrid flesh to any other. This is a mistake. Any 
flesh that they can at once tear with their very 
powerful bill in pieces, is swallowed, no matter how 
fresh. What I have said of their killing and devouring 
young animals, is sufficient proof of this ; but it 
frequently happens that these birds are forced to wait 
until the hide of their prey gives way to the bill. I 
have seen a large dead alligator, surrounded by vultures 
and carrion crows, of which nearly the whole of the 
flesh was so completely decomposed before these birds 
could perforate the tough skin of the monster, that, 
when at last it took place, their disappointment was 
