The Vulture
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animals; but preys upon those that have been killed in some other way, or have died
of themselves. It is a disagreeable bird, and one that you would not like very well to
see; no wonder the Israelites were forbidden to eat it. It is about a yard long from
the top of its head, and it sometimes measures two yards across the wings.
It lives only in warm or hot climates, and there it is very useful, though you might at
first be puzzled to think how this can be. It is because it lives upon such things as
would be very injurious to man if they were left to decay in the open air. It not only
consumes the dead bodies of animals, but takes away many things from the streets
of the cities which the inhabitants are too indolent to remove. It is for this reason
that in the city of Cairo, in Egypt, there is a law forbidding any person to kill a
vulture. These birds sometimes follow an army, and prey upon the bodies of those
poor soldiers who have been killed in battle. Ah ! it is a sad thing to go to war;
almost every thing about it is sad.
The vulture has a very keen eye, and, like the eagle, can see what is on the ground,
even when it is very high in the air. This is referred to in the book of Job. "There is a
path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen." It often
happens in those countries that almost as soon as an ox, or a horse, or any other
large animal has been killed, great multitudes of vultures will gather around, though
not one could be seen in the sky before. they seem to fly down from every part of the
heavens, and being to pull and struggle for the flesh of the animal; until in the
course of a few hours nothing is left but the bones. We read in Isaiah, "There shall
the vultures be gathered, every one with her mate." This must have been written by
one who had seen these birds coming together, as they do in great flocks or
companies.
of themselves. It is a disagreeable bird, and one that you would not like very well to
see; no wonder the Israelites were forbidden to eat it. It is about a yard long from
the top of its head, and it sometimes measures two yards across the wings.
It lives only in warm or hot climates, and there it is very useful, though you might at
first be puzzled to think how this can be. It is because it lives upon such things as
would be very injurious to man if they were left to decay in the open air. It not only
consumes the dead bodies of animals, but takes away many things from the streets
of the cities which the inhabitants are too indolent to remove. It is for this reason
that in the city of Cairo, in Egypt, there is a law forbidding any person to kill a
vulture. These birds sometimes follow an army, and prey upon the bodies of those
poor soldiers who have been killed in battle. Ah ! it is a sad thing to go to war;
almost every thing about it is sad.
The vulture has a very keen eye, and, like the eagle, can see what is on the ground,
even when it is very high in the air. This is referred to in the book of Job. "There is a
path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen." It often
happens in those countries that almost as soon as an ox, or a horse, or any other
large animal has been killed, great multitudes of vultures will gather around, though
not one could be seen in the sky before. they seem to fly down from every part of the
heavens, and being to pull and struggle for the flesh of the animal; until in the
course of a few hours nothing is left but the bones. We read in Isaiah, "There shall
the vultures be gathered, every one with her mate." This must have been written by
one who had seen these birds coming together, as they do in great flocks or
companies.
