178 Mr. 0. Salvin's Five Months' Birds' -nesting 



some individuals of the Liimmergeyer is probably owing to a 

 stain, the eiFect of bathing in muddy water, or of rolling in the 

 sand with wet plumage." That such a cause should produce 

 such an effect is not very pbvious ; and even if it were so, one 

 can hardly, by such a hypothesis, account for the colours being 

 distributed only on the under surface and lighter portions of the 

 plumage ; one would expect that the rolling process would 

 extend some of its influence to the darker portions also. All 

 the mature birds I saw wore a deep shade of this rich colouring. 

 The young of this species, on first leaving the &^^, is covered 

 with down of a sooty-brown colour. A blood-red band which 

 encircles the eye shows conspicuously when the bird is alarmed. 

 The iris itself is in the first instance dark. 



The Arabic name applied to the Lammergeyer in Eastern 

 Algeria is " Boulachiah." 



2. Gyps fulvus. (Griffon Vulture.) 



I have, since my return, felt rather surprised that we never 

 met with the Griffon Vulture in the Regency of Tunis : the 

 rocks about Kef, from which the town takes its name, would 

 appear admirably adapted for the nests of this bird. But none 

 were seen ; nor was it till we reached Souk Harras that they 

 first showed themselves, though I have since suspected that the 

 greater part of a large number of birds of prey, observed soaring 

 at a considerable distance near Sidi Yousef, on the Tunisian 

 frontier, were of this species. At Djebel Dekma were several 

 pairs, as also at Khifan M^sakta ; but Kef Laks and its neigh- 

 bourhood seem to be their head-quarters. The term Kef 

 Laks is strictly applied to a cliff which faces the east, and is 

 a singularly bold and marked feature in the country. This 

 eastern cliff forms one side of an elevated platform, the other 

 sides being also precipitous rocks of no mean height. The 

 northern of these is the most extensive ; and it was there that 

 the greater part of the Griffon Vultures built their nests. 

 These rocks are called "Gala el Hamara" and " Kef Gh'tar" 

 by the Arabs. The former seemed a favourite locality; and 

 every available ledge was occupied. Facing this rock is a 

 point which stands boldly out from the main cliff, to the extre- 



