124. The CARRION VULTURE (Vultur aura) is an American bird of prey, about four feet and a half high, with a small head covered with red skin, the bill hooked and white; and the plumage dusky, except the quill feathers, which are black.
In America these birds are protected for the same services as are performed by the aquiline vulture ([123]) in Africa and Asia. They not only devour the filth of the towns and villages, but also destroy, in great numbers, the eggs of alligators; which animals otherwise would become intolerable by their prodigious increase. The vultures watch the females in the act of depositing their eggs in the sand; and, as soon as they retire into the water, dart to the spot and feed upon their contents.
125. The CINEREOUS EAGLE (Aquila albicilla) is a species of eagle about the size of a turkey, of cinereous brown colour, with while tail, the quill feathers white, the middle ones tipped with black; and the base of the bill, and the feet, yellow.
This bird is found in England, and in nearly every other country of Europe.
The flesh of the cinereous eagles is eaten in Greenland, and is said not to be of bad flavour. Their skins sewed together, are used as under garments; and are also frequently employed as beds. The beak and claws are employed as amulets or charms; and are considered efficacious for the cure of various complaints. The Greenlanders either kill these birds with arrows, or catch them in snares laid in the snow, and baited with flesh.
The cinereous eagles feed on dead animals of every description, as well as on fish, young seals, and several kinds of birds.
126. The SECRETARY FALCON (Falco serpentarius) is a bird of prey of large size, with a bill hooked at the point and bearded at the base, black plumage, a crest on the hind part of the head, the tail feathers white at the tip, the two middle ones the longest, and the legs of great length.
This bird is about three feet in height, and, in its general appearance, has some resemblance both to the eagle and the crane.
It is an inhabitant of the interior of Africa, of some parts of Asia, and several of the Asiatic islands.
As a destroyer of noxious reptiles and other injurious animals, the secretary falcon is of great service to mankind. He attacks without fear even the most poisonous serpents, approaching them with the point of one of his wings, and either trampling them to death with his feet, or catching them on the pinion of the other wing, and throwing them into the air several times successively until they are dead.