160 POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY.

that he saw two species of vulture in the Holy Land; one
near Jerusalem, the other near Cana, in Galilee.

Aquita.—The Eagle.

This bird is distinguished by a very strong hooked beak ;
rather short but very strong legs, the toes armed with large
and powerful talons; both the wings and the tail are large
and possess very great’ strength and power of flight; the
eyes are proverbially keen and penetrating, and the sight
is the chief sense on which the eagle depends for food.
Homer says—

“The field exploring with an eye
Keen as the eagle’s, keenest-eyed of all
That wings the air, whom, though he soar aloft,

The lev’ret ’scapes not, hid in thickest shades,
But down he swoops, and at a stroke he dies.”

And Job—* Doth the eagle mount up at thy command,
and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on
the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.
From thence she seeth the prey, and her eyes behold
afar off.”

Small mammalia, such as hares, marmots, or the young
of the mountain goat or antelope, are their favourite prey,
though the species which approach the nearest to the
vulture have no objection to those animals which have fallen