uld have led them to believe
it was an eagle; but its colour forbade this supposition. There were no
white eagles, that ever they had heard of.

I have said that, when first seen by Francois, the strange bird appeared
about the size of a gull; but as the young hunters stood gazing up at
it, they saw that it was gradually becoming larger and larger. They
knew from this that it was descending towards the earth, and, to all
appearance, directly over the spot occupied by themselves and the
vultures. As they had all three grown very curious to know what sort of
a creature it might be, they were expressing their hopes that it would
continue its descent. They knew that _it_ must have seen _them_
already; and it would, therefore, be useless for them to attempt
concealing themselves. In fact, there was no cover for them, had they
wished to do so.

As they stood watching and waiting, an exclamation, uttered by all three
at the same moment, announced that _another white bird_ was in sight!
It was still high up, like a spot of snow upon the sky; but it, too, was
making downward, in the track of the former, and appeared to be of the
same species. This soon became evident; for the one last seen,
descending more vertically, soon overtook the other; and both together
continued to sail downward upon a spiral curve.

In a few moments they had arrived within two hundred yards of the earth;
and now they circled slowly around, looking down as they flew.

They were directly over the spot occupied by the vultures; and as the
day was one of the brightest, the boys had an opportunity of beholding
two of the most beautiful birds they had ever seen. They were not
entirely white--although, in looking at them from below, they appeared
so; but as, in sailing round the circle, they sometimes held themselves
sideways in the air, their backs at intervals could be seen distinctly.
It was then noticed that the upper part of their bodies was of a rich
cream colour, while their wings above--both plumes and coverts--were of
a glossy brown. Their tails were tipped with black; but the whole of
the under part of their bodies was of a pure milk-like white. But the
most singular appearance about these birds was presented on their heads
and necks. These were entirely naked of feathers as far down as the
shoulders--where the neck was encircled by a large ruff that looked like
a tippet--and the naked skin of both head and neck exhibited the most
brill