EGYPTIAN VULTURE. 9 



company. Bruce adds, that this bird builds its nest in the 

 most deserted parts of the country, and lays but two eggs. 

 The i^arent birds attend their young with great care, and feed 

 them for the first four months. It is considered a breach of 

 order to kill any one of these birds in Cairo. They are 

 efficient scavengers. In Eastern Africa it has been observed 

 by nearly all recent travellers. 



From Turkey, where it breeds as far north as Bulgaria, 

 this species ranges over the Crimea, Asia Minor, and Pales- 

 tine ; but its eastern limits are somewhat doubtful, since of 

 late it has been declared that the well-known Indian bird 

 generally identified with Neophron iiercnopterus, is a distinct 

 species, N. (jingin'unuis, and usually recognizable by its light- 

 coloured beak. On the other hand, it is certain that some 

 Indian Neophrons have dark beaks, so that the question still 

 remains in obscurity. 



In the adult bird, the whole length from the point of the 



VOL. I. 



