, 1898-11-01
MIXTURES OF INDIA.
GIANT BIRDS WHICH ARE NUMEROUS
AND USEFUL.
When the King NuIture Comes to -
Carcass. the other Varieties HIVE
to Stand on Until His Majesty Has
GorEcd HimscIG.

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" sun" VI" '"''' HIS ""'es'' ""s
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If the CITY of Bombay had n tuteIary
bird, there is M manner of dorbt vho,
blvd ,ho. s,ou,a La I1a,.. ,....
49,. - =: r, ,,'
'"'' NV IN ihui''
why 'he aho'eh' Egyptian "eiled the
Ids put II bnmbay zero the proud flg-
ure OF n vuiture rampant on her shield
everybody would know why OF all the
unsalaried public servants who have
identified themselves with this city and
devoted their energies to its welfare no
other can take n place beside the vul
ture Unfortunately the vulturc has
never lent itself to the spirit of her
aldry. The eagle has, strangely enough,
though the difference between the two
has never been very well marked in the
popular mind. The translators of our
Bible had no notion of it.
Modern natural history has Olsen,
tangled the two names and assigned
them to two very different families of
birds. the distinction between which in
its essence is just this-that while the
eagle kills its prey the less impatient
vulture waits decently till its time
comes to die. Popular sentiment persists
in regarding the former rs the more
noble, but there can be no question
which is the more useful.
1t is not easy indeed to realize to one.
self the extent and bencflcence of the
work carried Oh throughout the length
and breadth of India from years end to
years end by the mighty race of vul.
lures. The writer continues: The vul.
lures that ono sees in such numbers on
Malabar hill belong to two species,
which are easy enough to distinguish
when once ones attention has beer
turned to the difference between them.
The III of the two, tho white
backed or Bengal vulture (Gyps benga-
lensis) is a smoky black bird, with u
band of white extending tho whole
length of the wings on the underside
This band is broken by the dark body,
and that serves to distinguish the bird
at q glance.
The other species is tho long bi;;sA
vulture (Gyps pallescens) of Barnes.
Jerdon COMPOUNDED it with another spe.
lies. Its general color is brown, darker
Or lighter according to age, sometimes
almost Witty brown; but, however
white the underparts may be, body and
wings are alike. The two species are
about the same size and larger than one
would suspect who has only seen them
at a distance. A good specimen will
measure over seven feet from tip to tip
of the wings.
There is one curious difference in
their habits. The long billed vulture
breeds always on high cliffs, while Is
Bengal brother is content to build its
nest on any tree big enough to bear the
weight of such u ponderous cditice. |
have seen a single mango tree %groaning
under the weight of two or three nests
On the other side of the harbor. Each
nest contains one egg, generally white.
but sometimes blotched with brown
Once fairly in the air, no bird surpasses
the majesty of its flight. The question
has often been holly discussed whether
birds can sail without Tapping their
wings.
The difficulty originated, Of course,
with somebody of that unfortunate class
who must reason about a question OF
fact instead of looking. He demonstrate
ed that such a feat was impossible, The
vultures kept OH doing it all the same,
and any one may watch them. For
hours together they will sail i'll circles,
or rather in spirals, without the slight
est motion of their wings beyond trim
ming them to the wind like the sails Of
q boat. OF course there must be Il wind
There are two other kinds of vultu1es
which may occasionally be seen in Bonn
bay. One is the king vulturc (OtOgyps
~calvus), u royal bird, not indeed larger
than the others, but of nobler aspect and
prouder character. 1t appears singly or
with its mate and will not consort with
the herd. When it comes to a carcass,
the others have to stand hy until it has
dined. There is no difficulty inESrdc
niz;ngihis species by its zee black col.
or, relieved only by two pure white
red tint of its bare head and neck. Our