Ornithology of the Egyptian Soudan. 371 



222. Gyps kolbii (Daud.). 



This handsome Vulture is common on the eastern side of 

 the Soudan. I have seen it on the Rahad, Dinder, Atbara, 

 and Setit Rivers. 



223. Neophron percnopterus (Linn.). 



The Egyptian Scavenger- Vulture is extremely plentiful 

 over all the northern parts of the country, breeding in the 

 early spring on the rocky " jebels" of the desert or on trees 

 near the villages. It sometimes takes to feeding on dates 

 when they are ripe. 



On one occasion the owner of a small, date-palm-grove on 

 the Blue Nile came and asked me to shoot a pair of these 

 birds which had a nest in his garden, and were doing 

 much damage to the dates. I went and had a look at the 

 nest, on which the female bird — partly in the brown plumage 

 of immaturity — was sitting, while the male was in the act of 

 eating the dates on an adjacent palm, but, as my gun was 

 not handy, I left without shooting the delinquents. 



In Khartoum, where these Vultures abound, they pass the 

 early hours of the morning in scavenging about the streets. 

 During the heat of the day they collect in great numbers on 

 the sandbanks of Tuti Island, opposite the town, where they 

 sit in rows along the water's edge, drinking occasionally. 

 Between two and three in the afternoon they all rise and 

 spend an hour or so soaring in circles in the air. 



I once saw one of these birds at Meshra-el-Rek on the 

 Bahr-el-Ghazal, but they become rare on the White Nile 

 before Fashoda is reached, and at that station and south of 

 it are replaced by the next species. 



224. Neophron monachus (Temm.). 



This Vulture takes the place of the last on the Upper 

 White Nile and Bahr-el-Ghazal. It is first met with near 

 Renk, and at Fashoda almost entirely replaces N. percno- 

 pterus. The habits of both birds are identical. 



225. Ibis ^thiopica (Lath.). 



The Sacred Ibis is tolerably common on all the rivers 

 from Khartoum southwards. 



