THE EAGLE AND VULTURE AVIARY, No. 11.
EARED VULTURE.
LAMMERGEYER.
The Eagle and Vulture Aviary stands in an open glade, but well surrounded by forest trees, in Bird Valley, between the Aquatic Bird House and the new Zebra House. It is a commodious and pleasant installation, well adapted to exhibit the Society’s collection of rapacious birds. Its length over all is 210 feet. It has seven very large flight cages and six smaller ones. The largest cages are 24 feet wide, 33 feet deep and 31 feet high. In the rear of the great wire structure will stand a very comfortable brick building to serve as a winter shelter for the tropical birds of the collection; but it will not be open to the public.
Now that our eagles and vultures are to be brought together, visitors will find that the collection is a large one, and contains many fine species.
The Condor, (Sarcorhamphus gryphus), of the Andes, is the largest of the birds of prey, having a wing-spread of over nine feet. It feeds entirely on carrion, rarely attacking living animals. In the male, the head is adorned with a large fleshy comb, much like that of a barn-yard cock. The Society at present possesses several specimens of this great bird.
The King Vulture, (Gypagus papa), is as its proud name implies, the one member of the Vulture Family which really is clad in royal robes, and color-decked to match. Its range extends from Mexico and Central America to Trinidad and Brazil. The visitor should not fail to see this gorgeously caparisoned body of white, cream-yellow and black, and head of orange, purple and crimson.
Black Vulture, (Catharista urubu).—These ill-favored but very useful birds are quite abundant, and even semi-domesticated, in some of our southern cities. This is due to the protection accorded them, because of their valuable services as scavengers. They are said to devour every particle of exposed organic refuse, and in a warm climate these services are of more value than we in the north can realize.
The Yellow-Headed Vulture, (Cathartes urobitinga), of northern South America, is a much handsomer bird than its two preceding relatives. It has much the same feeding habits, but is very rare and delicate in captivity.
The California Condor, (Gymnogyps californianus).—This is one of the rarest, and to all Americans the most interesting, bird of prey in the Park. The species is confined to a very small area in the rugged mountains of southern and lower California, and beyond all doubt, the skin-collecting ornithologists will exterminate it within the next twenty years, or less.
The Griffon Vulture, (Gyps pulvus), and the Kolbe Vulture, (G. kolbi), are Old World birds and although more closely related to the eagles than to the vultures of the New World, resemble the latter in general habits.
Differing strongly from its congeners in general appearance, is the Eared Vulture, (Otogyps auricularis). This rare bird is a native of North Africa, where it feeds on such carrion as it is able to find. Its bare, wrinkled head and neck and great bill give it a decidedly gruesome appearance.
The Red-Tailed Hawk, (Buteo borealis).—The “Hen Hawk,” or “Chicken Hawk,” is one of our commonest birds of prey. It hardly merits its common name, as its favorite food is mice and other small mammals. This is the hawk seen, in the fall of the year, going south in flocks, sometimes of one hundred or more.
One of the most splendid members of the collection is the Harpy Eagle, (Thrasaetus harpyia), of South America. The remarkably large legs and claws indicate the great strength which enables the bird to prey upon sloths, monkeys, and other fairly large animals.
KING VULTURE.
BLACK VULTURE.
The Lammergeyer or Bearded Vulture, (Gypaetus barbatus), is now probably extinct in Europe, but is still found in parts of Asia. It feeds largely on lambs.
A nearly cosmopolitan bird is the Golden Eagle, (Aquila chrysaetos). It is equally at home in the highlands of Scotland and the mountains of North America, nesting on the highest cliffs.
The Bateleur Eagle, of Africa, (Helotarsus ecaudatus), has narrowly missed the distinction of being the most beautiful of all birds of prey. Its plumage is charmingly colored but it is out of proportion. Its tail is so absurdly short that its wings quite conceal it, and make it appear as if altogether tailless.
HARPY EAGLE.
GRIFFON VULTURE.
Bald Eagle, (Haliaëtus leucocephalus).—The appearance of the adult Bald Eagle, our National emblem, with its conspicuous white head and tail, is familiar to all; but the immature birds, as shown by several of the specimens, lack the white in their plumage. These birds are found usually near water, and their food is chiefly fish. These they sometimes catch for themselves, but if ospreys are found in the vicinity, they are watched by the eagles, and often robbed of their hard-earned prey.
Perhaps the fiercest among all the hawks is the White Gyrfalcon, (Falco islandus). A native of the far north, it descends to a more equable clime only when forced to do so by scarcity of food. It is so swift of wing that it is able to capture a duck in full flight.
Sea snakes form the rather unusual food of the White-Breasted Sea Eagle, (Haliaëtus leucogaster), of the East Indies, while the strikingly-colored Vulturine Sea Eagle, (Gypohierax angolensis), a native of Africa, feeds on fish, crabs, and the fruit of the oil palm.