The Vulture. 
231 
seen on our shores, unless, as Gifford suggests, the Spanish 
troops, which poured into the Netherlands, under D’Alva, 
are thus complimented:— 
<f That ruff of pride 
About thy neck, betrays thee; and is the same 
With that which the unclean birds, in seventy-seven, 
Were seen to prank it with on divers coasts.” 
{The Alchemist , iv. 4.) 
The ancients were by no means precise in distinguish¬ 
ing the species of either birds or quadrupeds. In the 
English translation of the Bible, the word eagle is probably 
substituted for the vulture in some instances. Spenser 
speaks of a vulture striking at a heron on the wing, not a 
very likely occurrence. 
The vulture in Egypt and Southern Europe is not 
much larger than a rook. John Leo, who was probably 
familiar with the sight of this useful bird in the cities of 
Italy, was surprised to find one of the larger African 
species called by the same name. He says:— 
“ The nesir is the greatest fowl in all Africa, and exceedeth a crane 
in bignesse, though the bil, necke, and legs are somewhat shorter. In 
flying, this bird mounteth up so high into the aire, that it cannot be 
discerned: but at the sight of a dead carcasse it will immediately 
descend. This bird liveth a long time, and I myselfe have seene many of 
them unfeathered by reason of extreme old age : wherefore, having cast 
all their feathers, they returne into their nest, as if they were newly 
hatched, and are there nourished by the younger birds of the same 
kind. The Italians call it by the name of a vulture; but I thinke it 
to be of another kind. They nestle upon high rocks^ and upon the 
tops of wilde and desart mountains, especially upon Mount Atlas.” 
(Purchas , vol. ii. p. 849.) 
The Condor, the largest of the American vultures, 
derives its name from a Mexican word expressive of a 
keen sense of smell. It is mentioned by Joseph Acosta 
in his Travels ;— 
“ In Peru there are birds which they call condores , of an exceeding 
