88 Mr. J, H. Gurney's Notes on 



indeed it exists at all ; and to ascertain this with precision it 

 would be needful that individuals of the like sex should be 

 compared^ as in Gyps fulvus the male bird is, so far as I have 

 observed, usually larger than the female. 



The rufous colouring to which Mr. Sharpe alludes, I be- 

 lieve to be limited in Algeria to immature birds, and I think 

 it probable that such is the case in Spain also. The specimen 

 described by Mr. Sharpe as an adult of G. hispaniolensis is, 

 in my opinion, proved to be immature by the ruff being com- 

 posed, not of white down, but of " lanceolate feathers, whitish, 

 with fawn-coloured margins.^' The colour of the crop-patch, 

 to which Mr. Sharpe attaches much importance, seems to 

 me to vary with age, becoming less rufous in adult specimens 

 of G. fulvus than it is in those that are immature. 



The following is a description of an adult male of G. fulvus 

 from Souk H arras, in Algeria, which is preserved in the Nor- 

 wich Museum, and which appears to me to be a very typical 

 example of the ordinary form of Gyps fulvus in its adult stage. 



Entire plumage pale stone-colour, except the feathers of 

 the tail, which are darker, as are the quill-feathers of the 

 wing, but the latter are shaded with grey — and also except- 

 ing the greater wing-coverts, in which the central part of 

 each feather is of a darker tint than the general plumage ; 

 crop-patch dark stone-colour, mingled with narrow pale 

 streaks ; ruff composed of white down, and fullest at the back 

 of the neck, head covered with sparse white hairs, especially 

 on the hinder part. 



So far as I have observed, the pale stone-coloured plumage, 

 the ruff composed of white down only, and the hairy cha- 

 racter of the filaments on the head are the invariable charac- 

 teristics of the adult stage of G. fulvus. 



The following are the measurements of the Algerian male 

 specimen above described — entire length 45^ inches, wing 

 from carpal joint 30, tarsus 4, middle toe without nail 3|. 



applies, at p. 10, to the Griffon of " the Pyrenees and Sardinia ; " and 

 which A. E. Brehm also applies, with a fuU description, to the Spanish 

 Grilfon, in the Allg. deutsch. Zeit. 1857, pp. 434, 435 ; for whicli latter 

 reference I am indebted to the kindness of Mr, Dresser. 



