vulturidj:. 25 



The accumulated number then fall to work, exhibit- 

 ing a most disgusting ^^icture of famished voracity, 

 the strongest driving otf the weakest, and the latter 

 harassing the former with all the animosity that a 

 disappointed hungry stomach can excite. They may 

 then be seen jumping off the carcase, re-attacking 

 it^ entering it and wrestling for portions partly 

 swallowed by two or more of them ; hissing . at a 

 furious rate, and every moment clearing their nos- 

 trils from the filth that enters there and stops their 

 breathing. The carcase is soon reduced to a mere 

 skeleton, no portion of it being now too tough to be 

 torn apart and swallowed, so that nothing is I'eft but 

 the bare bones. The repast finished, the gorged 

 Vultures slowly fly to the highest branches of the 

 nearest trees, and remain there until the full diges- 

 tion of all the food they have swallowed is com- 

 pleted. This takes, oftentimes, more than a day, 

 when successively, and very often singly, each Vul- 

 ture is seen to depart. 



The type of this sub -family — 



The Arabian Vulture {Vultur mormchus) measures 

 about four feet m length, and the extent of its wings 

 is proportionately wide ; nevei-theless, in spite of its 

 large size and great muscular strength, it is not a dan- 

 gerous neighbour even to the farmer ; for unless pressed 

 by hunger, it seems to . have a di*ead of living annuals, 

 and contents itself with feeding upon any carrion that 

 may come in its way. 



The specific name of monachus, or monk, was given to 

 it by Linnseas, on account of the hood-like rutf round its 

 neck, its bald head, and the general colour of its dress, 

 much resembling the garb of the monastics formerly so 

 numerous in Arabia and Palestine. 



Its nest is built upon the most inaccessible cliffs, where it 

 forms a flat mass of sticks three or four feet in diameter. 

 XJ]3on this platform the female deposits two or rarely 

 three eggs, which are white, with a faint bluish tinge. 



The range of the Arabian Vulture extends over the 

 whole of northern Africa, Arabia, Persia, India, and the 

 more mountainous parts of the south of Europe. 



