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THE BIIIBS OF PREY OF THE £UMJAii, . 2G:J 



heavily blotched with reddish markings, and mca- 

 Buring about 3-24 by 2-66. 



This is a magnificent looking bird and of ap- 

 parently great size, but its fine colouring and huge 

 tri-coloured eye account for its noble looks, and its 

 long pointed wings and wedge-shaped tail make it 

 look much bigger than it really is. 



Its weight when compared with the Himalayan 

 Griifon, for instance, accounts for the smallness 

 of its egg, when compared with that bird's, and 

 in spite of its expanse, the Lammergeyer only 

 weighs about 12 pounds to the vulture's 18 to 

 20 lbs. 



The stories that have been written and told of 

 this bird's depredations among flocks and herds, 

 would fill an average-sized book, and one can but 

 wonder how they originated. If they were all told 

 of the Imperial eagle one could understand it, as 

 he so closely resembles the Golden Eagle, that the 

 misdeeds of the latter might easily be put down to 

 the former, but in the case of the Bearded Vulture 

 there is no such resemblance to anything, unless it 

 be his still more ignoble cousin the Scavenger Vul- 

 ture. The fact remains that the Lammergeyer has 

 been blamed for carrying ofl" lambs and accredited 

 with killing ibex and ghooral. One glance at his 

 miserably weak talons precludes any such possi- 

 bility, and all such stories about him must be put 

 down as myths and traveller's tales without any 

 atom of truth. 



Mr. Hume tells how the Lammergeyer has passed 

 over fowls and pigeons placed as a bait for eagles 

 without taking the least notice of them, and 1 can 

 recall more than one similar instance. 



Bones are to a Lammergeyer what chocolate is 

 to a school boy and if it is intended to catch him. 

 the best bait is a collection of bones placed in a circle 

 of nooses. 



Bones 2 to 3 inches long and as thick aa a man's 

 finger simply disappear down his capacious throat, 

 without causing the least bit of inconvenience. One 

 I kept in captivity, used to be regaled with the lege 

 of fowls and pheasants, tibia and tarsus complete, 

 together with the toes and claws. The whole leg 

 would promptly begin to disappear until just the toes 

 peeped out of the corners of his beak. The old Lam- 

 mergeyer would then take a breather, and then sud- 

 denly draw in his neck, giving it a twist at the same 

 time. There would be a slight " crick " as though 

 his neck ha^ .been broken, and the next instant 

 the toes would disappeai; from view and the bird 

 would be prepared for another leg. Whether 

 . this twist and contraction of the muscles of the 

 neclf ; broke the bones inside I cannot say, but it 

 ,ertf^i nly, ^ppea^r^d ,tp dp BO, and the fact remain 



