ossifrage
n . 鱼鹰
鱼鹰
Ossifrage \
Os "
si *
frage \,
n . [
L .
ossifraga ,
ossifragus ,
osprey ,
fr .
ossifragus bone breaking ;
os ,
ossis ,
a bone frangere ,
fractum ,
to break .
See {
Osseous }, {
Break },
and cf . {
Osprey },
{
Ossifragous }.] (
Zool .)
(
a )
The lammergeir .
(
b )
The young of the sea eagle or bald eagle . [
Obs .]
[
1913 Webster ]
Lammergeir \
Lam "
mer *
geir \ (
l [
a ^]
m "
m [~
e ]
r *
g [
imac ]
r ),
Lammergeier \
Lam "
mer *
gei `
er \,
lammergeyer \
lam "
mer *
gey `
er \
(
l [
a ^]
m "
m [~
e ]
r *
g [
imac ]`[~
e ]
r ),
n . [
G .
l [
aum ]
mmergeier ;
lamm ,
pl .
l [
aum ]
mmer ,
lamb geier vulture .] (
Zool .)
A very large vulture ({
Gypa ["
e ]
tus barbatus }),
which inhabits the mountains of Southern Europe ,
Asia ,
and Northern Africa .
When full -
grown it is nine or ten feet in extent of wings .
It is brownish black above ,
with the under parts and neck rusty yellow ;
the forehead and crown white ;
the sides of the head and beard black .
It feeds partly on carrion and partly on small animals ,
which it kills .
It has the habit of carrying tortoises and marrow bones to a great height ,
and dropping them on stones to obtain the contents ,
and is therefore called {
bonebreaker }
and {
ossifrage }.
It is supposed to be the {
ossifrage }
of the Bible .
Called also {
bearded vulture }
and {
bearded eagle }.
[
1913 Webster ]
Ossifrage Heb .
peres =
to "
break "
or "
crush ",
the lammer -
geier ,
or bearded vulture ,
the largest of the whole vulture tribe .
It was an unclean bird (
Lev .
11 :
13 ;
Deut .
14 :
12 ).
It is not a gregarious bird ,
and is found but rarely in Palestine . "
When the other vultures have picked the flesh off any animal ,
he comes in at the end of the feast ,
and swallows the bones ,
or breaks them ,
and swallows the pieces if he cannot otherwise extract the marrow .
The bones he cracks [
hence the appropriateness of the name ossifrage ,
i .
e ., "
bone -
breaker "]
by letting them fall on a rock from a great height .
He does not ,
however ,
confine himself to these delicacies ,
but whenever he has an opportunity will devour lambs ,
kids ,
or hares .
These he generally obtains by pushing them over cliffs ,
when he has watched his opportunity ;
and he has been known to attack men while climbing rocks ,
and dash them against the bottom .
But tortoises and serpents are his ordinary food ...
No doubt it was a lammer -
geier that mistook the bald head of the poet AEschylus for a stone ,
and dropped on it the tortoise which killed him " (
Tristram '
s Nat .
Hist .).
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