106 
THE KING OF VULTURES. 
Book I. 
india-rubber is collected. The rocks over which the brook 
passes, and those in its vicinity, are recent deposits of 
carbonate of lime from its water, in parallel layers, and of 
a structure resembling that of stalactites. Tertiary rocks 
of limestone and sandstone, some of them in a metamorphic 
state, similar to the rocks of the hills west of Jinotepet, 
seem to constitute the coast range in this direction also, 
but the country is so thickly covered with vegetation that 
the mere passing traveller has little opportunity of making 
a series of observations calculated to convey a positive 
idea of the geological character of the region. On my 
way from San Juan del Sur to Virgin Bay I saw frag- 
ments of limestone heaped up near a lime-kiln, but I could 
not discover any fossils included in them. They were 
from a neighbouring quarry, but the necessity of reaching 
a certain locality before night did not allow me to visit it. 
On the bank of a little river my guide, by throwing a 
stone, killed a most beautiful specimen of a vulture of the 
species called the rey de zapilotes, or king of vultures. I 
regretted that I had not the means of taking it with me 
and preserving it. This bird, I suppose, is the Cozgacoate 
of Oviedo. The Aztec name, according to Mr. Buschmann, 
is Cozcaquauhtli, from quauhtli, eagle, and cozcoatl, a 
jewel, a compound which the learned linguist translates by 
" the eagle with the collar." 1 I was astonished to see the 
dexterity of my guide in throwing a stone. But I have 
been assured by persons of reliable authority that some of 
the herdsmen of Nicaragua are able to kill a deer in that 
manner. 
The little bay of Concordia, where one year later the 
1 Professor Lichtenstein, according 
to Mr. Buschmarm*s statement, was 
uncertain whether the Cozgacoate of 
Oviedo was Vultur saieoramphus, gry- 
phus, or icterus. I should say that 
the bird which my guide killed was 
either the Sarcoramphus Papa, or a 
species very similar to it. 
