larks, partridges, and quails, which it would frequently kill by a single blow, striking them on the breast, head, or

neck.

THIS bird is about twenty inches in length; the upper parts of its body are of a brown colour, the lower pale, variegated with brown. There are scarcely two of them coloured alike. The Buzzard is very indolent and cow

ardly, and will frequently fly before a sparrowhawk, and will tamely suffer itself to be beaten and brought to the ground without resistance. It is said that if the female is killed during incubation, the male very patiently takes her place, and rears the young till they are able to provide for themselves. It feeds on birds, small quadrupeds, reptiles, and insects, and is an inhabitant of the eastern hemisphere.

THE Condor, which is the largest bird of flight, inhabits the regions of the Andes in South America. Its wings, when expanded, measure from nine to fourteen feet from point to point; its beak is hooked; its legs very powerful; its colour black, slightly mixed with gray; its length, from the top of the beak to the extremity of the tail, is three and a half to four feet.

The habits of the Condor partake of the bold ferocity of the eagle, and of the disgusting filthiness of the vulture. Although, like the latter, it appears to prefer the dead carcass, it frequently makes war upon a living prey; but the gripe of its talons is not sufficiently firm to enable it to carry off its victim through the air. Two of these birds, acting in concert, will frequently attack a puma, a llama, a calf, or even a full grown cow. They will pursue the poor animal with unwearied pertinacity, lacerating it incessantly with their beaks and talons, until it falls exhausted with fatigue and loss of blood. Then, having first seized upon its tongue, they proceed to tear out its eyes, and commence their feast with these favourite morsels.

The intestines form the second course of their banquet, which is usually continued until the birds have gorged themselves so fully as to render themselves incapable of using their wings in flight. The Indians, who are well acquainted with this effect of their voracity, are in the habit of turning it to account for their amusement in the chase. For this purpose they expose the dead body of a horse or a cow, by which some of the Condors, which are generally hovering in the air, in search of food, are speedily attracted.

As soon as the birds have glutted themselves on the carcass, the Indians make their appearance armed with the lasso, and the Condors, being unable to escape by flight, are pursued and caught by means of these singular weapons with the greatest certainty. This sport is a peculiar favourite in the country, where it is held in a degree of estimation second to that of a bull-fight alone.

Or this class of birds the principal are the Golden or Carrion Vulture, the Aquiline or Egyptian Vulture, the Cape Vulture, and the Brazilian Vulture. In one point they all have a perfect resemblance; they are filthy, indolent, and rapacious, and the smell of them is offensive. The Golden Vulture is about four feet long, from the end of the beak to that of the tail. The head and neck are only covered with a few scattered hairs, and the latter is covered with a red skin, which at a distance gives to the creature the look of a turkey; and the eyes are more prominent than those of the eagle. The whole plumage is dusky, mixed with purple and green.

Though unknown in England, the Vulture is common in many parts of Europe; and in Egypt, Arabia, and many other kingdoms of Africa and Asia, he is found in great abundance. In Egypt, and particularly in Grand Cairo, there are great flocks of them, which render a most important service to the inhabitants, by devouring all the

filth and carrion, which might otherwise render the air pestilential.

In Brazil these birds may be deemed peculiarly serviceable, from the circumstance of their checking the increase of the alligator tribe. The female frequently lays her eggs, to the number of one or two hundred, on the side of the river, and covers them carefully with sand, to conceal them from all other animals. In the meantime a number of Vultures watch her motions from the branches of some neighbouring forest; and, on her retiring, they encourage each other with loud cries, pour down upon the spot, lay the eggs bare, and devour them in a few moments.

Vultures make their nests in the most remote and inaccessible rocks. Those of Europe, indeed, seldom come down into the plains, except when the rigours of winter have banished from their native retreats all living animals but themselves. They are capable of enduring hunger for an extraordinary length of time.

Mr. Pringle makes the following remarks regarding the Vultures in South Africa:-" These fowls divide with the byænas the office of carrion scavengers; and the promptitude with which they discover and devour every dead carcass is truly surprising. They also instinctively follow any band of hunters, or party of men travelling, especially in solitary places, wheeling in circles high in the air, ready to pounce down upon any game that may be shot and not instantly secured, or the carcass of any ox or other animal that may perish on the road. In a field of battle in South Africa no one ever buries the dead; the Vultures and beasts of prey relieve the living of that trouble."

Mr. Burchell, speaking of the office of Vultures in hot regions, says, "Vultures have been ordained evidently to perform very necessary and useful duties on the globe; as, indeed, has every other animated being, however purblind we may be in our views of their utility; and we might almost venture to declare that those duties are the final