. Exploration of the Nile tributaries of Abyssinia : the sources, supply, and overflow of the Nile; the country, people, customs, etc. Interspersed with highly exciting adventures of the author among elephants, lions, buffaloes, hippopotami, rhinoceros, etc., accompanied by expert native sword hunters . ieve he trusts much to his sense ofsmell, as he is never far from the ground, while at thesame time he keeps a vigilant look-out with a verysharp pair of eyes. No. 2 is the common buzzard: this bird, so wellknown for its extreme daring, is omnipresent, andtrusts generally to sight, as it will s
. Exploration of the Nile tributaries of Abyssinia : the sources, supply, and overflow of the Nile; the country, people, customs, etc. Interspersed with highly exciting adventures of the author among elephants, lions, buffaloes, hippopotami, rhinoceros, etc., accompanied by expert native sword hunters . ieve he trusts much to his sense ofsmell, as he is never far from the ground, while at thesame time he keeps a vigilant look-out with a verysharp pair of eyes. No. 2 is the common buzzard: this bird, so wellknown for its extreme daring, is omnipresent, andtrusts generally to sight, as it will stoop at a piece ofred cloth in mistake for flesh; thus proving that itdepends more upon vision than smell. No. 3 is the red-faced small vulture. No. 4 is the large bare-throated vulture. No. 5, the Marabou stork, sometimes accompaniedby the adjutant. When employed in watching the habits of thesebirds, it is interesting to make the experiment ofconcealing a dead animal beneath a dense bush. ThisI have frequently done; in which case the vulturesnever find it unless they have witnessed its death;if so, they will already have pounced in their descentwhile you have been engaged in concealing the body;they will then upon near approach discover it by thesmell. But if an animal is killed in thick grass,. .jiilii r CHAP. XIX.] TUE MARABOU STORK. 513 eight or ten feet high, the vultures will seldom dis-cover it. I have frequently known the bodies oflarge animals, such as elephants and buffaloes, to liefor days beneath the shade of the dense nabbukbushes, unattended by a single vulture; whereas, ifvisible, they would have been visited by these birdsin thousands. Vultures and the Marabou stork fly at enormousaltitudes. I believe that every species keeps to itsown particular elevation, and that the atmospherecontains regular strata of birds of prey, which, invis-ible to the human eye at their enormous height, areconstantly resting upon their wide-spread wings, andsoaring in circles, watchin
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