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| Read more about Bustards. |
One of the finest of Old World game birds is the Bustard. It is a relative of the Crane and is found on dry, open plains in Europe, Africa and Asia.
Bustards are large birds with long necks, long bare legs and three toes on the feet. Moving about in the early morning and evening, they feed on insects, fruits, berries, lizards and snakes. During the day they hide in the long grass. Bustards are not easy to approach because they are wild and wary and, when alarmed, sneak through the grass with their heads held low or run away very swiftly, flying only when the danger gets too close.
One of the interesting habits of Bustards is the "showing off'" of the males before the females during the mating season. Puffing out their throats, throwing back their heads and necks, spreading and raising the tail like a fan over their backs and extending the ruff of long display plumes on the breast, the males approach the females with a slow and measured walk, side-stepping and turning around and around, accompanying this performance with a deep booming or humming sound.
The Great Bustard is the largest European bird. It is now very rare and is strictly protected at all times. The male has tufts of whisker-like feathers on the cheeks and a throat pouch that is blown up during the mating ''show-off.'' The largest of the African bustards is the Kori Bustard, which is the noblest and finest of African game birds. It wears a crest, the head and neck sway backward and forward as it walks and it has a long, slender body.
Quite different from the bustards are the vultures. These large birds are related to the hawks and eagles. Vultures are very ugly, except when flying, for their heads and necks are naked or covered only with down, the feathers have a rough and disorderly appearance and their habits are disgusting for they feed mostly on spoiled food and decayed flesh. They are generally protected because they do a great deal of good by eating decayed things which would otherwise cause sickness and disease.
Vultures are famous for their wonderful flight and very keen eyesight. By making use of air currents, they will rise for thousands of feet and on outstretched, motionless wings soar for hours at a time, sailing in spirals up in the sky until out of sight, never once flapping their wings. The way in which vultures gather quickly where food is seen is one of the wonders of the bird world. Where a moment before not one was seen either in the sky or on the earth, suddenly they appear. Flying at a great height, they soar in wide sweeping circles. The minute one sees food, down he swoops, dropping straight to the spot. He is seen by the vulture soaring next to him and down he goes. If one drops, others are seen shooting in long slants toward the spot until all the vultures in the air for miles around have gathered at the feast. By swooping within a hundred yards of people or animals, vultures can tell whether they are asleep or dead. If the person or animal is asleep the birds sail away, but if dead, they drop straight to the spot.
Vultures were sacred to the sky goddess Nut in ancient Egypt and were sometimes mummified and placed in the tombs. Many pictures of vultures were found on the tomb walls.
Vultures are particularly common in Africa, the commonest of them being the small Hooded Vulture. The White-backed Vulture, which breeds in colonies, is also common. The White-headed Vulture is a handsome study in black and white, while the Griffon Vulture is the one commonly pictured on the monuments in Egypt. The Bearded Vulture of Europe and northern Africa is a connecting link between the vultures and eagles. The American vultures belong to a different family from the Old World vultures. The Condor is a vulture and the world's largest bird of prey. Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures are common in the Americas.
An old Egyptian legend tells why vultures have featherless heads and necks. King Solomon was traveling during the heat of the day and the sun was burning him. Seeing a flock of vultures he asked them to fly between him and the sun to protect his head and neck. When they refused he placed a curse upon them and declared that the feathers on their heads and necks should fall off and expose their heads to sun, rain and cold and that from that time on they should eat only carrion and be impure until the end of the world. And it has been so ever since. Pearsall.
Bustards are large birds with long necks, long bare legs and three toes on the feet. Moving about in the early morning and evening, they feed on insects, fruits, berries, lizards and snakes. During the day they hide in the long grass. Bustards are not easy to approach because they are wild and wary and, when alarmed, sneak through the grass with their heads held low or run away very swiftly, flying only when the danger gets too close.
One of the interesting habits of Bustards is the "showing off'" of the males before the females during the mating season. Puffing out their throats, throwing back their heads and necks, spreading and raising the tail like a fan over their backs and extending the ruff of long display plumes on the breast, the males approach the females with a slow and measured walk, side-stepping and turning around and around, accompanying this performance with a deep booming or humming sound.
The Great Bustard is the largest European bird. It is now very rare and is strictly protected at all times. The male has tufts of whisker-like feathers on the cheeks and a throat pouch that is blown up during the mating ''show-off.'' The largest of the African bustards is the Kori Bustard, which is the noblest and finest of African game birds. It wears a crest, the head and neck sway backward and forward as it walks and it has a long, slender body.
Quite different from the bustards are the vultures. These large birds are related to the hawks and eagles. Vultures are very ugly, except when flying, for their heads and necks are naked or covered only with down, the feathers have a rough and disorderly appearance and their habits are disgusting for they feed mostly on spoiled food and decayed flesh. They are generally protected because they do a great deal of good by eating decayed things which would otherwise cause sickness and disease.
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| Read more about vultures. |
Vultures were sacred to the sky goddess Nut in ancient Egypt and were sometimes mummified and placed in the tombs. Many pictures of vultures were found on the tomb walls.
Vultures are particularly common in Africa, the commonest of them being the small Hooded Vulture. The White-backed Vulture, which breeds in colonies, is also common. The White-headed Vulture is a handsome study in black and white, while the Griffon Vulture is the one commonly pictured on the monuments in Egypt. The Bearded Vulture of Europe and northern Africa is a connecting link between the vultures and eagles. The American vultures belong to a different family from the Old World vultures. The Condor is a vulture and the world's largest bird of prey. Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures are common in the Americas.
An old Egyptian legend tells why vultures have featherless heads and necks. King Solomon was traveling during the heat of the day and the sun was burning him. Seeing a flock of vultures he asked them to fly between him and the sun to protect his head and neck. When they refused he placed a curse upon them and declared that the feathers on their heads and necks should fall off and expose their heads to sun, rain and cold and that from that time on they should eat only carrion and be impure until the end of the world. And it has been so ever since. Pearsall.
Crows and Vultures wait for a red-headed vulture.
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