But, if an animal is
killed in thick grass, eight or ten feet high, the vultures will
seldom discover it. I have frequently known the bodies of large
animals, such as elephants and buffaloes, to lie for days beneath
the shade of the dense nabbuk bushes, unattended by a single
vulture; whereas, if visible, they would have been visited by
these birds in thousands.
Vultures and the Marabou stork fly at enormous altitudes. I
believe that every species keeps to its own particular elevation,
and that the atmosphere contains regular strata of birds of prey,
who, invisible to the human eye at their enormous height, are
constantly resting upon their wide-spread wings, and soaring in
circles, watching with telescopic sight the world beneath. At
that great elevation they are in an exceedingly cool temperature,
therefore they require no water; but some birds that make long
flights over arid deserts, such as the Marabou stork, and the
buzzard, are provided with water-sacks; the former in an external
bag a little below the throat, the latter in an internal sack,
both of which carry a large supply. As the birds of prey that I
have enumerated, invariably appear at a carcase in their regular
succession, I can only suggest that they travel from different
distances or altitudes.
Pages:
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587