THE BIRDS OF PREY OF THE RUyjAB. 253 



vultures, though it frequently consorts with them 

 in the vicinity of a butchery or round a carcase. 

 Ml". Hume says it is one of the commonest vultures 

 in the Hissar District and he has seen as many as 

 •20 of them with a few of the plains representatives. 

 He considers this species, in the cold weather 

 in the northern portion of the Punjab, to be very 

 nearly as common as the Indian White-backed 

 Vulture. Very occasionally this species might pre- 

 ponderate over a carcase, but. as a general rule, I do 

 not think it can be considered a common bird. 



Though this bird undoubtedly does breed in the 

 Punjab there is no authentic record of a nest 

 having been found. Hutton mentions having seen 

 an uncompleted nest in the Doon, with a bird sit- 

 ting on the branches alongside. A month later the 

 nest was again visited and found completed, but 

 there was nothing in it and no sign even of the 

 birds, and other similar nests in the immediate 

 vicinity were also deserted, due, he thinks, to the 

 fact that the grass below the trees had been recent- 

 ly fired. Major T. E. Marshall, R.E., records the 

 finding of nests and eggs near Quetta, as also Co.. 

 Delme-Radcliffe, B. N. H. Society's Journal, Volu- 

 mes XV, p. 351, XXI, p. 264 and XXII, p. 394. 



This species is said to build on very high trees or 

 on cliffs, in Europe, during February and March, a 

 huge nest of sticks, and lays a single egg. rarely 

 two, richly marked with dark-red and measuring 

 3-7 X 2-6. 



Family VULTURID^E. 

 Type B. 



Genus Otor/ijps. 



No. 1191. Otogyps calvus, The Black or Pondicherry Vulture. 



Charactenstics. Size very large. Head bare except for scattered 



hairs on nape, sides and throat. Nostril oval ; tail 

 of 12 feathers; Jies/it/ unities depending from the 

 sides of neck. 



(iV. />'. — The head in the young bird is covered 

 with down.) 



CoUuration. Generally glossy black ; brownish on scapulars, 



lower back and rump. Crop patch dark-brown 

 almost surrounded by white down. Thighs white 

 and downy. 



The young bird is a deep brown, with whitish 

 under tail coverts and the feathers of the under- 

 parts with paler edges. The crown of the head is 

 eovered with white down. 



Bill dark-brown ; cere, skin of head and neck 

 deep yellowish red, a conspicuous naked patch on 

 each side of the «rop and a large naked oval area in 

 front of each thigh, the same (Blanford). Mr. Hume 

 says that the bare portions of the neck, legs and 



