Hay for the Vulture

As late as the nineteenth century it was generally asserted that birds of prey were gifted with a keen sense of smell and thus were able to search out their food at a distance. But experiments by Audubon showed otherwise. One time he procured the skin of a deer. Stuffing it full of hay, he placed it in the middle of a field, laying it down to resemble a dead animal. In a few minutes a hungry vulture appeared. Unsuspiciously, the bird proceeded to attack the “carcass,” as usual, in the most vulnerable points. Failing in this, the vulture, with much exertion, tore open the seams, earnestly intent on getting at the succulent “flesh.” Finding that his efforts led to no other result than the pulling out of huge quantities of hay, the vexed vulture, with some reluctance, gave up and took flight to search elsewhere for dinner. And so Audubon proved that it was not smell but sight by which the vulture hunted.

But Bible readers, without knowledge of Audubon’s experiments or any others, have always known the truth of the matter. For Job 39:27-29 (AT) says: “Does the vulture fly high at your command, when he sets his nest aloft? He occupies the cliff and makes a lodging upon the peak of the cliff and the rocky hold. Thence he searches for food; his eyes look afar off.” The careful, literal translation of verse 29 by Rotherham reads: “He searcheth out food, far away his eyes do pierce.”