876 Zoological Society j^^^^,,i, 



apparently without motion, and their tips pointed upwards, the legs 

 being stretched out beneath the tail. The food of this Vulture con- 

 sists of decaying animal substances ; one which I shot drinking in a 

 stream disgorged the entire leg of a cat. They breed during the months 

 of February and March. In my notes taken at the time, I find the 

 following : — "March /. Found to-day, on the top of rather a low pee- 

 pul (species of banian tree), the nest of the Black Vulture, on which 

 one of the old birds was sitting. The nest, which was very large, 

 was built of small sticks ; it contained one egg. On the same tree a 

 pair of the Black-headed Ibis {Tantalus melanocephalus. Lath.) had 

 also built their nest ; it contained four white eggs, very similar to those 

 of the Pelican Ibis {T. leucocephalus) ."' — "March 19. Shot a male 

 Black Vulture sitting on one egg ; the nest was about a yard in cir- 

 cumference, built on the top of a thorny tree ; it was composed of 

 the thorny branches and other sticks below it. Among the thorny 

 twigs forming the nest were two small nests, belonging to birds of 

 the Passerine order, containing young." In both these cases only one 

 egg was found, of a pure white colour, 3 j^ inches in length by 3^^ 

 inches in width. In a third also, only one egg was found. The na- 

 tives say that the Black Vulture lays two eggs, containing a male and 

 female bird, but these facts seem opposed to such a statement. 



Genus Neophron. 



Neophron percnopterus. Egyptian Vulture. 



This is the most common and most efficient scavenger to be found 

 in the cantonments of India. The last-mentioned Vulture feeds only, 

 I believe, on decaying animal substances, but this bird usurps the 

 place of the night-cart, removing the filth that would otherwise cause 

 pestilence under a tropical sun. Any one who has been in India must 

 have observed these disgusting-looking birds, from the young in its 

 black to the mature in their white plumage, stalking with awkward 

 gait in troops about the plains which generally surround an Indian 

 military station, and no one can mistake the errand on which they 

 are there. They breed during the months of February, March, and 

 probably April. I have found their nests most frequently during 

 the month of March. The nest, of a large size, is composed of sticks ; 

 in one case it was lined with rags and other refuse. It is generally 

 built on tall trees, especially the banian. I found one on a ledge of 

 rock on the side of a steep hill. The eggs are in general two in num- 

 ber, varying very much in colour, from white spotted with brown to 

 a universal rust or liver-brown, darkest at the large end ; 2-^-^ inches 

 in length by 2^^ inches in breadth. One nest contained two eggs, one 

 nearly white, the other equally brown. The young when first hatched 

 are covered with a whitish-brown down, the down being whitest on 

 the oldest. I give a description of a young bird brought to me on 

 the 15th of April : "Beak and naked skin under the chin and about 

 the gape and beak, dull greenish lead-colour, that over the eyes 

 and on the forehead, lead. Irides dark ; a white spot of do\\Tni on 

 the crown of the head ; feathers on the neck and upper part of the 



