The Young Naturalist's Book of Birds Author:Percy Bolingbroke St. John Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: quiet they soon returned as before. As they were often disturbed by the dogs, he ordered the latter home, his voice appearing to give no alarm to the vultures. A... more »s soon as the dogs departed, the vultures crowded in such numbers, that Wilson counted at one time thirty-seven on and around the carcass, with several within, so that scarce an inch of it was visible. Sometimes one would come out with a large piece of the entrails, which in a moment was surrounded by several others, who tore it in fragments and it soon disappeared. Some of them having their whole legs and heads covered with blood, presented a most savage aspect. Still as the dogs advanced, he would order them away, which seemed to gratify the vultures, and one would pursue another to within a foot or two of the spot where he was sitting. Sometimes they were observed to stretch their necks along the ground, as if to press the food downwards. A bird mentioned by Acosta, under the name of paullazes, appears to be very similar in its habits to those described by Wilson. "They have a surprising agility," he says, " and a piercing eye, and are very useful for clearing cities, not suffering the least vestige of carrion or putrid matter to remain. They spend the night upon trees or rocks, and resort to the towns in the morning, perching on the top of the highest buildings, whence they look out for plunder." The black vulture is said to be about twenty-eight inches in length, and four feet four inches in breadth; the colour, a kind of dirty black. GOLDEN EAGLES. In the city of Orenburgh, travellers enjoy an opportunity of observing the manners of the Kirghis. These people purchase annually from the Russians a number of golden eagles, used by their hunters in the chase of the wolf, the fox, and the gazelle; and sometime...« less