The Kite, or Vulture of Scripture

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The word Dayah and its signification—Dayah a collective term for different species of Kites—The Common or Red Kite plentiful in Palestine—Its piercing sight and habit of soaring—The Black Kite of Palestine and its habits—The Egyptian Kite—The Raah or Glede of Scripture—The Buzzards and their habits—The Peregrine Falcon an inhabitant of Central Palestine, and the Lanner of the eastern parts of the country.
IN Lev. 11:1414And the vulture, and the kite after his kind; (Leviticus 11:14) and Deut. 14:1313And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, (Deuteronomy 14:13), we find the Vulture among the list of birds which the Jews were not permitted to eat. The word which is translated as Vulture is dayah, and we find it occurring again in Isa. 34:1515There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. (Isaiah 34:15), "There shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate." There is no doubt, however, that this translation of the word is an incorrect one, and that it ought to be rendered as KITE. In Job 28:77There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: (Job 28:7), there is a similar word, ayah, which is also translated as Vulture, and which is acknowledges to be not a Vulture, but one of the Kites: “There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen." Both these words are nearly identical with modern Arabic terms which are employed rather loosely to signify several species of Kite. Buxtorf, in his Hebrew Lexicon, gives the correct rendering, translating dayah as Milvus, and the Vulgate in one or two places gives the same translation, though in others it renders the word as Vulture.
Mr. Tristram, who has given much attention to this subject, is inclined to refer the word ayah to the Common Kite (Milvus regalis), which was once so plentiful in this country, and is now nearly extinct; and dayah, to the Black Kite (Milvus atra). He founds this distinction on the different habits of the two species, the Common or Red Kite being thinly scattered, and being in the habit of soaring into the air at very great heights, and the latter being very plentiful and gregarious.
We will first take the Red Kite.
This bird is scattered all over Palestine, feeding chiefly on the smaller birds, mice, reptiles, and fish. In the capture of fish the Kite is almost as expert as the osprey, darting from a great height into the water, and bearing off the fish in its claws. The wings of this bird are very long and powerful, and bear it through the air in a peculiarly graceful flight. It is indeed in consequence of this flight that it has been called the Glede, the word being derived from its gliding movements.
The sight of this bird is remarkably keen and piercing, and, from the vast elevation to which it soars when in search of food, it is able to survey the face of the country beneath, and to detect the partridge, quail, chicken, or other creature that will serve it for food. This piercing sight and habit of soaring render the passage in Job peculiarly appropriate to this species of Kite, though it does not express the habits of the other. Should the Kite suspect danger when forced to leave its nest, it escapes by darting rapidly into the air, and soaring at a vast height above the trees among which its homo is made. From that elevation it can act as a sentinel, and will not come down again until it is assured of safety.
OF the habits of the BLACK KITE (Milvus atra), Mr. Tristram gives an admirable description. “The habits of the bird bear out the allusion in Isa. 34:1515There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. (Isaiah 34:15), for it is, excepting during the winter three months, so numerous everywhere in Palestine as to be almost gregarious. It returns about the beginning of March, and scatters itself over the whole country, preferring especially the neighborhood of valleys, where it is a welcome and unmolested guest. It does not appear to attack the poultry, among whom it may often be seen feeding on garbage. It is very sociable, and the slaughter of a sheep at one of the tents will soon attract a large party of black kites, which swoop down regardless of man and guns, and enjoy a noisy scramble for the refuse, chasing each other in a laughable fashion, and sometimes enabling the wily raven to steal off with the coveted morsel during their contentions. It is the butt of all the smaller scavengers, and is evidently most unpopular with the crows and daws, and oven rollers, who enjoy the amusement of teasing it in their tumbling flight, which is a maneuver most perplexing to the kite.”
The same writer proceeds to mention that the Black Kite unlike the red species, is very careless about the position of its nest, and never even attempts to conceal it, sometimes building it in a tree, sometimes on a rock-ledge, and sometimes in a bush growing on the rocks. It seems indeed desirous of making the nest, as conspicuous as possible, and hangs it all over with bits of cloth, strips of bark, wings of birds, and even the cast skins of serpents.
Another species (Milvus Ægyptiacus) is sometimes called the Black Kite from the dark hue of its plumage, but ought rather to retain the title of Egyptian Kite. Unlike the black kite, this bird is a great thief, and makes as much havoc among poultry as the red kite. It is also a robber of other birds, and if it should happen to see a weaker bird with food, it is sure to attack and rob it. Like the black kite, it is fond of the society of man, and haunts the villages in great numbers, for the purpose of eating the offal, which in Oriental towns is simply flung into the streets to be devoured by the dogs, vultures, kites, and other scavengers, without whom no village would be habitable for a month.
WHETHER the word raah, which is translated as Glede in Deut. 14:1313And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, (Deuteronomy 14:13), among the list of birds which may not be eaten, is one of these species of Kite, or a bird of a different group, is a very doubtful point. This is the only passage in which the word occurs, and we have but small grounds for definitely identifying it with any one species. The Hebrew Bible retains the word Glede, but affixes a mark of doubt to it, and several commentators are of opinion that the word is a wrong reading of dayah, which occurs in the parallel passage in Lev. 11:1414And the vulture, and the kite after his kind; (Leviticus 11:14). The reading of the Septuagint follows this interpretation, and renders it as Vulture in both cases. Buxtorf translates the word raah as Rook, but suggests that dayah is the correct reading.
Accepting, however, the word raah, we shall find that it is derived from a root which signifies sight or vision, especially of some particular object, so that a piercing sight would therefore be the Chief characteristic of the bird, which, as we know, is one of the attributes of the Kites, together with other birds of prey, so that it evidently must be classed among the group with which we are now concerned. It has been suggested that, granting the raah, to be a species distinct from the dayah, it is a collective term for the larger falcons and buzzards, several species of which inhabit Palestine, and are not distinctly mentioned in the Bible.
Several species of buzzard inhabit the Holy Land, and there is no particular reason why they should be mentioned except by a collective name. Some of the buzzards are very largo birds, and though their wings are short when compared with those of the vultures and eagles, the flight of the bird is both powerful and graceful. It is not, however, remarkable for swiftness, and never was employed, like the falcon, in catching other birds, being reckoned as one of the useless and cowardly birds of prey. In consonance with this opinion, to compare a man to á buzzard was thought a most cutting insult.
As a general rule, it does not chase its prey like the eagles or the large-winged falcons, but perches on a rock or tree, watches for some animal on which it can feed, pounces on it, and returns to its post, the whole movements being very like those of the flycatcher. This sluggishness of disposition, and the soft and almost owl-like plumage, have been the means of bringing the bird into contempt among falconers.
As to the large falcons, which seem to be included in the term raah, the Chief of them is the Peregrine Falcon. (Falco peregrinus) which is tolerably common in the Holy Land. In his "Land of Israel," Mr. Tristram gives several notices of this bird, from which we may take the following picture from a description of a scene at Endor. "Dreary and desolate looked the Alain, though of exuberant fertility. Here and there might be seen a small flock of sheep or herd of cattle, tended by three or four mounted villagers, armed with their long firelocks, and pistols and swords, on the watch against any small panty of marauding cattle-lifters.
“Griffon vultures were wheeling in circles far over the rounded top of Tabor; and here and there an eagle was soaring beneath them in search of food, but at a most inconvenient distance from our gens. Hariers were sweeping more rapidly and closely over the ground, where lambs appeared to be their only prey; and a noble peregrine falcon, which in Central Palestine does not give place to the more eastern lanner, was perched on an isolated rock, calmly surveying the scene, and permitting us to approach and scrutinize him at our leisure.”
The habit of perching on the rock, as mentioned above, is very characteristic of the Peregrine Falcon, who loves the loftiest and most craggy cliffs, and makes its nest in spots which can only be reached by a bold and experienced climber. The nests of this bird are never built in close proximity, the Peregrine preferring to have its home at least a mile from the nest of any other of its kinsfolk. Sometimes it makes a nest in lofty trees, taking possession of the deserted home of some other bird; but it loves the cliff better than the tree, and seldom builds in the latter when the former is attainable.
In the passage from the "Land of Israel" is mentioned the LANNER FALCON (Falco lanarius), another of the larger falcons to which the term raah, may have been applied.
This bird is much larger than the Peregrine Falcon, and, indeed, is very little less than the great gerfalcon itself. It is one of the birds that were reckoned among the noble falcons; and the female, which is much larger and stronger than the male, was employed for the purpose of chasing the kite, whose long and powerful wings could not always save it from such a foe.
Although the Lanner has been frequently mentioned among the British birds, and the name is therefore familiar to us, it is not even a visitor of our island. The mistake has occurred by an error in nomenclature, the young female Peregrine Falcon, which is much larger and darker than the male bird, having been erroneously called by the name of Lanner.
In the illustration, a pair of Lanner Falcons are depicted as pursuing some of the rock-pigeons which abound in Palestine, the attitudes of both birds being taken from life.