If we take the Ileb. inidh to refer to the red kite {Mil- vus rer/«//s, Temm.), and ihiydh to the black kite {Mil- rus ater, Temm.), we shall find the piercing sight of the former referred to by Job (xxviii, 7), and the gregarious habits of the latter by Isaiah (xxxiv, 15). Both species are inhabitants of Palestine, the red kite being found all over the country, as formerly in England, but no- where in great numbers, generally soaring at a great height over the plains, acconiing to Dr. Roth, and ap- parently leaving the country in winter. The black kite, which is so numerous everywhere as to be gregari- ous, may be seen at all times of the year hovering over the villages and the outskirts of towns, on the lookout for offal and garbage, which are its favorite food. Vulture- like, it seldom, unless pressed by iiunger, attacks lining
animals. It is therefore never molested by the natives, and builds its nest on trees in their neighboiiiood, fan- tastically decorating it with as many rags of colored clotli as it can collect. See Glede.
II. Tlicre arc three species of so-called vulture known to inhabit Palestine :
1. Tlie Laininergeyer {Gypcetos bai-batus, Cuv.), which is rare everywhere, and only found in desolate moun- tain regions, where it rears its young in the deyith of winter among inaccessible precipices. It is looked upon by the Arabs as an eagle rather than a vulture; for, though [iroperly neither a vulture nor an eagle, it is the largest Ijird of ])rey of the old continent, and is armed, like the eagle, with formidable claws. The liead is wholly feathered; its courage is equal to its powers; and it has a strength of wing probably superior to all rai)torians, excepting the condor. It is consequently foinid, with little or no difference, from Norway to the Cape of Good Hope, and from the Pyrenees to Japan. This is [ierha]>s the black .species, which is often (igured on Egyptian monuments as the bird of victory, hover- ing over the head of a national hero iri battle, and some- times with a banner in each talon. See Ossikhage.
2. The Gritfon {Gyps J'ulnis, Sav.), mentioned above, remarkable for its power of vision and the great height at which it soars. Aristotle {Amm. Ilist.\\,f)) notices the manner in which the griffon scents its prey from afar, and congregates in the wake of an army. The same singular instinct was remarked in the Russian war, when vast numbers of this vidture were collected in the Crimea, and remained till the end of the cam- paign in the neighborhood of the camp, although pre- viously they had been scarcely known in the country. " Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together' (Matt, xxiv, '28) ; "Where the slain are, there is she" (Job xxxix, 30). Travellers have ob- served this biril universally distributed in all the moun- tainous and rocky districts of Palestine, and especially abundant in the south-east. Its favorite breeding- places are between Jerusalem and Jericho, and all round the Dead Sea.
./^^
Griffon Vulture (Gypxfulvns).
.S. The third species is the above Egyptian vulture (Neophron perrwipteriis, Sav.\ often called Pharaoh's hen, observed in Palestine by Hasselquist and all subse- quent travellers, and very numerous everywhere.
Two other species of very large size, the eared and ci- nereous vultures (I '»//"?■ ???/foV7/.?. Smith, and Viiltur cine- rei/.i,L.') although inhabitants of the neighboring conn- tries, and probal)ly also of the south-east of Palestine, have not yet been noted in collections from that country.
Most of the al)ove- named species are occasionally seen in the north of Europe. The voice varies in
VULTURE
841
AVACK
different species; but those of Egypt, frequenting the ryraraids, are known to bark in the night like (logs. Excepting the pe/ciiopteriiie (or carrion) vul- tures, all the otlier species are of large size; some superior in bulk to the swan, and others a little less. — Kitto; Smith. The Nubian species has been figured in Kitto's I'altstiue; the /ulcus in Harris's Did. of the
Nat. Hist, of the Bible. See also Tristram, Nat. llht. of the Bible, p. 173 sq. ; Wood, Bible Animals, p. 340 sq. See KiTi:.
Vultuiius (Gr. Vvtralo^), in Greek mythology, is a surname under which a teuiple was built tor Apollo, by a shepherd, because the god had saved him, by vultures, from death in a large deep cave.
w.
"Waajen (or "Waasen, or Waeyen), Hans
VAN i>i';ii (1), a Dutch thonlogitin, was borii at Amster- dam, July VI, 1639. lie began his studies at Utrecht, whence he proceeded successively to Heidelberg, Gene- va, and Basle, and returned in 16G2 to his native coun- try, as doctor of divinity, to preach in Sparendam. In U)6o he was called to Leeuwarden, and in 1G72 to jMid- delburg, but in 1677 he was forced by the intrigues of William !Momma to retire from the latter place. The same year he was made professor of Hebrew in Eraneker, to which office he ailded (in ItJ.SO ) that of iniiver- sity preacher and state historian. He resided with the prince of Orange as councillor until his death, Nov. 4, 1701. He enjoyed the reputation of being one of the first controversialists of Holland, and wrote, Smnma Theulogioe Christianm: — -Enchiridiun Theulogim Chris- iiance : — De Antiqvitate Litterarum Judaicarum : — Bilibra Veriiatis et Rationes de Veibo Dei, Lihrce Rit- tangelii Ohrersa : — De \oy(<j Disserlatio contra Clericnm, etc. See Vriemoet, Series Prnfossorinn Franequera- norum ; .Tocher, Allgemeines Gelehvten- Lexikon, s. v.; Ftirst, Bibl. Jud. iii, 41)0; Biographie Universelle, s. v. (B. P.)