. Fourteen weeks in zoology. Zoology. 136 STJBKINGDOM VERTEBEATA. Fig. 22,9. cycloid, which is a line of swifter descent than a perpendic- ular, and also easier for alighting. To give a more powerful hold on the air when caiTying its prey to its eyrie, its wings are hollow on the under side. Cathartidse.* — The American Vultures being designed in the econ- omy of nature to dispose of carrion, lack the powerful talons of the Pal cons, but possess a strong beak for dismembering the dead bodies on which they feed. If one soaring aloft detects with its telescopic eye a car- cass, the change of its
. Fourteen weeks in zoology. Zoology. 136 STJBKINGDOM VERTEBEATA. Fig. 22,9. cycloid, which is a line of swifter descent than a perpendic- ular, and also easier for alighting. To give a more powerful hold on the air when caiTying its prey to its eyrie, its wings are hollow on the under side. Cathartidse.* — The American Vultures being designed in the econ- omy of nature to dispose of carrion, lack the powerful talons of the Pal cons, but possess a strong beak for dismembering the dead bodies on which they feed. If one soaring aloft detects with its telescopic eye a car- cass, the change of its flight from a circular sweep to a right line of descent is probably noticed by many others too distant to be seen by the human eye, and thus a large flock quickly gathers from all quarters of the The head and neck are bare of feathers, to enable them to be plunged deeply into a carcass. As the naked skin, however, would suSer in the cold upper air, the base of the neck is encircled with a rnfl: of soft down, arising from a loose fold, into which the neck and most of the head can be with- drawn, while the bird remains. Haliaetus leucocephdlus. White-headed Eagle, j'j. Mg. 2S0. * Recent researches prove the Vultures of the Old aud New World so osteologi- callydilTerent as to require the latter to be placed in a separate family, and the for- mer to be degraded to the rank of a sub- family of the Falcouidai, the Vulturinie. + Both sight and smell seem to aid them in the pursuit of their food. The latter sense is remarkably keen, and they have been seen to descend directly from a great height in the air to putrefying food that was concealed from their Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Steele, Joel Dorman, 1836-1886. New York, Chicago [etc. ] A. S. Barnes & Company
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1872
