280 
Rev. H. B. Tristram on the 
foot-sore had to be slaughtered on the spot, and his burden dis¬ 
tributed among the others. Our attendants selected the tenderest 
morsels for ‘ kouskous/ the Arab broth; and it was not till the 
next morning that a vulture scented, or rather descried, his prey. 
That the Vulture uses the organ of sight rather than that of 
smell, seems to be certain from the immense height at which he 
soars and gyrates in the air. In this instance one solitary bird 
descended, and half an hour afterwards was joined by a second. 
A short time elapsed, and the Nubian Vulture (Otogyps nubicus) 
appeared, self-invited, at the feast; and before the bones were left 
to the Hyaena, no less than nine Griffons and two Nubians had 
broken their fast. I should hesitate to assert that they had satis¬ 
fied their appetites. I have observed the same regular succession 
of diners-out on other occasions. May we not conjecture that 
the process is as follows ?—The Griffon who first descries his 
quarry descends from his elevation at once. Another, sweeping 
the horizon at a still greater distance, observes his neighbour's 
movements and follows his course. A third, still further re¬ 
moved, follows the flight of the second ; he is traced by another; 
and so a perpetual succession is kept up as long as a morsel of 
flesh remains over which to consort. I can conceive no other 
mode of accounting for the numbers of vultures which in the 
course of a few hours will gather over a carcase, when previously 
the horizon might have been scanned in vain for more than one, 
or at the most two, in sight. Does not this explain the im¬ 
mense number of vultures who were congregated in the Crimea 
during the siege of Sebastopol, where the bird was compa¬ 
ratively scarce before ? May not this habit of watching the 
movements of their neighbours have collected the whole race 
from the Caucasus and Asia Minor to enjoy so unwonted an 
abundance ? The Arabs believe that the vultures from all North 
Africa were gathered to feed on Russian horses in the Crimea, 
and declare that during the war very few ‘ Nissr' were to be 
seen in their accustomed haunts. 
The Griffon, however disgusting his food, is by no means an 
unamiable or disgusting bird. He is certainly cleanly in his 
habits, docile, and of remarkable intelligence. With his fellows 
he is good-tempered; and, voracious as he is, never grudges to 
