Descriptive List of Birds 



or Bearded Vulture. F. 1199, J. 7, +V, 4 feet 

 long. W. K. 



This bird is often mistaken for the Golden 

 Eagle by people at hill stations. 



Head and nape white. Rest of upper plum- 

 age grey. Lower plumage pale brown. A 

 black band from the eye to the bill ending in 

 the " beard," which is a tuft of black bristles 

 growing from the lower mandible. Tail long 

 and rounded at end ; that of the scavenger 

 vulture being diamond-shaped. 



This great bird is fairly common in the 

 Kashmir valley, Simla, Dharmsala and Mus- 

 soorie. 



Birds of Prey 



This large family is composed of birds which 

 bear so strong a family likeness that it is almost 

 impossible to describe them in such a way as 

 to enable the reader to identify them at sight. 

 As with owls, birds of prey are easily recognised 

 as such, but to name any particular bird soaring 

 overhead often baffles expert ornithologists. 

 To try to make out birds of prey by their 

 colouring is a hopeless task. Eha remarks, 

 " every bird of prey has its own character, 

 some trick of flight, something in its figure 



M 177 



