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



colouring is not observable. The young of the Griffon Vulture, 

 on emerging from the egg, is covered with white down ; the 

 sides are dark. This bird is known among the Arabs as the 

 " Nisser." 



3. Neophron PERCNoPTERus. (Egyptian Vulture.) 

 Though at first sight this bird would appear to be hardly so 

 numerous as the preceding species, yet its distribution is so 

 much more extensive, that I am inclined to consider it as more 

 abundant. It is to be seen usually in pairs ; and wherever a 

 cliff exists in the mountains that surround the table-lands of 

 the Eastern Atlas, sure enough it will be occupied by a pair. 

 It was about the 20th of March, when, riding from Tunis to 

 Bizerta, I first saw this species, after which this bird and the 

 Black Kite {Milvus ater) were our constant companions through- 

 out our stay. Generally speaking, the nests of A^. percnopterus 

 are not so inaccessible as those of Gyps fulvus. One nest which 

 I visited near Kef Laks, and from which an Arab had taken 

 the egg and broken it, I could reach with my hand from a per- 

 fectly accessible ledge. This nest was in a crevice of the rock, 

 and was composed entirely of small sticks. 



The Arabs used to take the eggs of this bird for us whenever 

 and wherever they found them, so that I am unable to speak 

 with certainty of the average number laid by one bird ; but I 

 think that two is the usual complement. In some instances the 

 bird would lay again in the nest from wliicli her first egg had 

 been abstracted. One nest at Khifan M'sakta contained three 

 eggs. Tlie Egyptain Vulture begins to lay about the 10th or 

 12th of April. I quite concur in Mr. E. C. Taylor's remarks 

 (Ibis, No. 1, p. 42) respecting the irides and tarsi of the adult 

 of this species ; they agree with my own observations. The 

 Arabs are well acquainted with this bird, and call it Rachma, 

 the adult being distinguished as "Rachma hatha," or White 

 Rachma. 



4. Aquila CHRYSAJiTus. (Goldcu Eagle.) 



The title of the Golden Eagle to be considered as the King of 

 Birds is fully confirmed in the Atlas. Whatever rock a pair 

 may choose for their eyrie, there they reign alone in dignified 



