2 vultijhid.t:. 



becoming narrower towards the point. Nostrils naked and diagonal. Tongue 

 fringed with spines. Head slender and covered with short down, as is most part 

 of the neck ; above the shoulders a ruff of elongated feathers. Feet strong, 

 claws slightly hooked ; middle toe rather longer than tarsus, and united at 

 base to outer toe by a membrane. Wings long ; first quill-feather short, the 

 fourth the longest. Tail of twelve or fourteen feathers. 



I AM indebted to the kindness of Admiral Bowles for the 

 first notice of the capture in Ireland of the Griffon-Vulture. 

 In the autumn of 1843 the Admiral was visiting Lord 

 Shannon, at Castle Martyr, and saw there this Vulture, which 

 had heen caught hy a youth on the rocks near Cork Harljour, 

 in the spring of that year. The bird was full grown ; the 

 plumage perfect, without any of the appearances consequent 

 upon confinement ; there was no reason to suspect that 

 the bird had escaped from any ship ; it was very wild and 

 savage, and was in perfect health. Not long afterwards Mr. 

 Thompson observes in the ' Annals of Natural History ' 

 (xv. p. 308), his Lordship " off'ered the bird to Dr. Ball 

 for the collection in the Garden of the Zoological Society, 

 Dublin ; but before arrangements were completed for its 

 transmission it died. The specimen was, by the directions 

 of Lord Shannon, carefully preserved and stufi'ed, and placed 

 at the disposal of Dr. Ball, who has added it to the collec- 

 tion in Trinity College, Dublin. It is in adult plumage." 



This species of Vulture, of large size and proportionate 

 strength, possesses also great sustaining powers of flight, 

 and has, as might be expected, a very extended geographical 

 range. In Europe it inhabits Spain, and though visiting 

 the South of France in considerable numbers, it does not 

 appear to breed to the northward of the Pyrenees. It also 

 occurs in Italy, Hungary, Turkey, Greece, and the Crimea. 

 It has been met with in Germany, and it is found in 

 Sardinia and Crete. In North Africa its range extends from 

 Morocco in the west to Egypt in the east, and thence south- 

 wards, according to some authorities, even to the Cape of 

 Good Hope, not occurring, however, on the western side of 

 the continent. In Asia it frequents Asia Minor, Syria, 

 Palestine, Persia, and Northern India. It must be observed, 

 however, that according to the views of some ornithologists, 



