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CONDOR. 
are found on the adult. These fleshy appendages are of the same 
nature as the wattles, &c. of Gallinaceous birds. 
No part of Ornithology has been more confused in its details 
than that relative to the Vultures, and their synonymy, especially 
the European species, is almost inextricable: the old authors have 
heedlessly multiplied and even composed species, whilst the 
modern have brought together the most confused citations under 
those which at last they founded on the actual observation of 
nature. We congratulate ourselves that the task of pointing out 
all these errors, from which no writer without exception appears 
free, does not belong to us. 
Vile, gluttonous, and pre-eminently unclean, the Vulturidse are 
the only birds of prey that keep together in flocks all the year 
round: as cowardly as they are indiscriminately voracious, they 
are too pusillanimous, notwithstanding their numbers, to attack 
living prey, and content themselves with the abundant supply of 
food which is offered by the putrid carcasses of dead animals. 
In fact, they appear to give the preference to these, with all their 
disgusting concomitants, and only resort to freshly slaughtered 
animals when impelled by extreme hunger. Their want of 
courage is denoted by their crouching attitude and the humility 
of their demeanour. Creatures with such dispositions did not 
require from nature strength or powerful weapons; nothing was 
needed but perfection of smelling, that they might from a distance 
discover their appropriate food, and this faculty they possess in 
an eminent degree. Their nostrils have two large external 
apertures, and an extensive olfactory membrane within. 
Though regarded with disgust for their filthy habits, these 
well known birds are extremely serviceable in hot climates, by 
devouring all sorts of filth and impurities, and thus preserving 
the atmosphere from the contamination of noxious effluvia. On 
this account their cowardice is protected by man, who in civilized 
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