ORICOU

ORICOU, a new species of the vulture, discovered by Vaillant at Orange river in South Africa. As he thinks it unquestionably the most beautiful of its genus, and tells, as usual with him, a wonderful story about it, we have given a figure of this vulture in Plate XLI. Our traveller says, that it is more than three feet high, and eight or nine in breadth of wing. Its feathers, the general hue of which is a light brown, are of a particular kind on the breast, belly, and sides, where they are of unequal lengths, pointed, curved like the blade of a sabre, and bristle up distinct from each other. The feathers being thus separated, would disclose to view the skin on the breast, if it were not completely covered with a very thick and beautiful white down, which is easily seen between the ruffled plumage.

A celebrated naturalist has said, that "no bird has eye-lashes or eye-brows, or, at least, hair round the eyes like that in quadrupeds." This assertion, advanced as a general law of Nature, is a mistake. Not only the oricou has this peculiarity, but we know of many other species in which it exists; such as, in general, all the calaos, the secretary, and several other birds of prey. Beside these eye-lashes, the vulture in question has stiff black hairs on its throat. All the head and part of the neck are bare of feathers; and the naked skin, which is of a reddish colour, is dashed in certain places with blue, violet, and white. The ear, in its external circumference, is bounded by a prominent skin, which forms a fort.

sort of rounded conch, that must necessarily heighten the faculty of hearing in this species. This kind of conch is prolonged for some inches, and descends down the neck; which induced our author to give it the name of oricou.

Its strength, he says, must be very considerable, if we may judge from its muscles and sinews; and he is persuaded, that there is not a stronger among the whole order of carnivorous birds, not excepting the famous condor, which so many travellers have seen, but of which their descriptions are so different as to render its existence extremely doubtful. But there was no occasion for this reasoning, and those inferences, if what he relates as facts deserve any credit. The oricou which he describes, he first perceived perched on the carcass of a hippopotamus, eagerly devouring its flesh. He shot at it, and wounded it slightly; upon which, "though it had already gorged itself with a considerable quantity of flesh (for upon opening it, he found in its stomach no less a quantity than six pounds and a half), yet its hunger and voracity were such, that it struck its beak into the carcass when attempting to take wing, as if desirous of carrying the whole of it away.

"On the other hand, the weight of the flesh it had devoured rendering it the more heavy, it could not easily rise; so that we had time (says he) to reach it before it was on the wing, and we endeavoured to knock it on the head with the but-ends of our muskets. It defended itself a long time with great intrepidity. It bit or struck at our weapons with its beak, and its strength was still so great, that every stroke made a mark on the barrel of the piece."