The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-22
ALL RICHTs
II r &c OF
II 4 Q . ~ ~ ~ ~ -
By G. j. CORNISH. F. Z. S., Etc.
Author IF" IMea at the Zoo" wild England OF To-Day" animals at Work and
BY 9. CORNISH. F. Y. S. Etc.
Ilhor u "IHe ~ INC Zoo, vivid EngandO % To-Day AnImaIs n " DIX 20
Play" etc.,

believe that it is not heavier than a bus
tard or swan. a look at the two very line
specimens at the Zoo suggests this. More
over the size Of the flight feather OF a con-
dor bears the same proportion 10 that of a
swan or bustard as a walking stick does TO
a pencil. If the largest primary Of a condor
is taken in the hand and beaten straight
downwards there is a feeling OF resistance
almost like that made by a stiff breeze on
the inside of an umbrella The other great
birds Of fight, the vultures and pelicans,
whose feats of soaring rival those OF the
eagles, should be noticed. No one looking
az the pelican would believe that such huge
and awkward birds are great performers II
the air. But they are. In Egypt and central
Africa, the return OF the pelicans 10 their
roosting places at night is often made at
such vast heights that they seem 10 be
dropping from the upper regions OF sky
into the range of vision. Their enormous
wings are then expanded into parachutes,
and they descend through thousands OF
feet to the marshes where hey sleep. The
oldest bird in the Zoo is a pelican from
Syria. 1t is thirty-one years old. The
famingoes close by are a curious contrast
in their elegance and l%ightness to the peli-
cans. They also haunt the African rivers,
but one species breeds in the marshes or
the south OF Spain, and one or two wan
derers have been shot in England. Most
people have a dislike for vultureSs but in
the autumn. when they have their new
feathers, many of the v~ultures show mag
nifcent plumase. As they live on fresh food
at the Zoo there is nothing unpleasant in
visiting them. They a one or two inter-
esting neighbors, also. especially the Bate
leur eagle, from South Africa. This is the
only brightly colored species among the
eagles. It's beak and feet are coral red,
and the rest of its plumage a bold mixture
Of black, bright chestnut and white. 1t has
a short tail, and it's method Of hunting is
curious. 1t flies with its head pressed
against its breast, looking backwards, the
short tail not impeding the view. 1t is the
habit of the small animals on the veldt to
squat when-a bird of prey comes over them.
and when it is passed TO jump up and run
back. The Bateleur eagles method of sur
veying the ground enables it to see the at
tempts at escape, when it whisks round
and starts in pursuit. A very handsome
eagle close by is the Chilean sea eagle.
When young it is light brown, but on the
moult changes to a most beautiful soft
gray like a pigeons breast, barred with
white and black.
YULTURES-UGLY AND BEAUTIFUL.
Vultures are so useful as -scavengers in
India that there is a fine for shooting one
in Bombay and other big towns Some OF
the Indian birds would be quite handsome.
were it not for the ugly stoop OF the neck
which they have in common with all their
tribe. The Pondicherry vulture has a beak
much like an eagle, with sharp cutting
edges. The back feathers are beautiful OBJ
jects, creamy-tawny, tipped with horse
shoes of black. The legs are pink, and the
head a clear mauve pink, the eye dark and
bright. Egyptian v~ultures of the small kind
are almost disgusting. Not so the great
Sriffon vUlture of Spain and the lower
Danube. or its relative the RupelI's vulture
of North Africa. The grifon is also found
in Austria, Tyrol, Greece, Palestine and
North Africa. These two ~vultures have
heads covered with soft down, bright hazel
eyes and exquisite tawny feathers, and a
neck boa" of streamers like the cock
heron's breast plume. They breed in high
precipices and mountain cliffs. Their egg is
one Of the prizes of the collector, as highly
priced, if taken in Europe. as those of the
golden eagle. Like the eagle. their habit is
TO use the same eyrie, or if not, part of the
same precipice, every year. Perhaps the
most striking characteristic OF these great
birds of fight is the very slight variation
in the forms and habits compared with the
immense area of the globe over which they
range. Like the whales and huge cetaceans
which have the power to wande over the
whole ocean, they have no local limits set
by mere difficulties OF movement. They
have but to spread their wings, and sail. If
they like, to the ends OF the earth. The
Vultures are more limited by food supply
than the eagles, because civilization has
made parts of the earth too clean for them.
There are no dead bullocks and sheep left
lying about for them TO eat. But the eagles
can get a living from the poles TO the equa-
tor, for wherever there is living food, there
they can find a meal. There is practically
no difference between the sea eagles of
Scotland and those OF California, and the
huge fossil raptors whose bones were found
in Patagonia were equipped with an almost
Identical armament with that Of the eagles
of to-day.
Next Week:
BIRDS OF Gorgeous Plumage."