254 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVI. 



couspicuous thigh patches always become more 

 vivid towards the breeding season, and are brighter 

 in the male than in the female, at this season. 



Legs dull red ; irides red-brown. 



Length 30 to 33"; tail 10-6"; wing 23 ; tarsus 4-5"; 

 expanse 80 to 88." 



iJistrilmtioti. Throughout the Punjab, not common. 



Habits. This bird, often called the King Vulture or the 



" Turkey Buzzard," the latter erroneously, is un- 

 mistakable either on the ground or almost at any 

 height up in the air. The red wattles and fleshy 

 appearance of the whole head, combined with his 

 very dark colouring, are in themselves sufficient to 

 set him apart from any other vultures among whom 

 he may be found. In the air, the white thigh 

 patches are distinguishable at a great height. In 

 flight, too, he is very different, to all the other vul- 

 tures and when soaring carries his wings more like 

 a Golden Eagle than a vulture, i.e., held well above 

 the plane of his body. From below he looks uni- 

 formly black except for the crop and thigh patches, 

 and in some, there is a thin white line running along 

 the centre of the wings, from the body almost to the 

 base of the primaries. 



The Black Vulture is only " King " of the carcase 

 when none of the previous species or Griffons hap- 

 pen to be about. He drives all other species from 

 the banquet but is himself driven off by the two 

 above mentioned. 



They build on trees, a huge platform of sticks, 

 lined in the centre with leaves and often rags. 



Mr. Hume describes a nest which he demolished, 

 which weighed over 8 maunds (6 hundredweight), 

 which had three distinct layers and had been used 

 many times. Unlike some of the other species, 

 they do not nest in companies but are more solitary 

 in their nesting arrangements, two pairs very 

 seldom nesting on the same tree. 



It is not uncommon to see them mating in the air. 

 Of this Mr. Hume says : " I rather suspect that 

 these birds pair in the air. Just before the breed- 

 ing season, a pair may be seen to tower, a'ld, then, 

 one apparently getting on the back of the other, 

 both come with plunges and flappings of the wings, 

 nearly to the ground, when separating they sai) 

 away, very slowly, towards some large tree where 

 they both rest." The sight is by no means uncom- 

 mon, but I cannot say I have ever seen the one 

 getting on to the back of the other. It has always 

 appeared to me that as they tower, their claws 

 interlock and they descend, as Mr. Hume says, 

 " with plunges and flappings of the wings "' towards 

 the ground, with their claws still interlocked. This 

 proceeding is somewhat different to that adopted 

 by the Himalayan Griffon, in particular, though 



