390 



VULTURID^ 



OTOGYPS 



Iris dark brown ; bill greenish-brown, tip yellow ; cere bluish- 

 lavender ; bare skin of head and neck varying from vermilion to 

 pale flesh ; tarsus and feet pale bluish. 



Length about 48-0; wing 31-0; tail 14-0; culmen 5-0; tarsus 5-40. 



Another specimen, probably a young bird, has traces of down 

 feathers on the head and neck ; some of the feathers of the upper 

 part of the back are tipped and edged with pale ashy-fulvous giving 

 that part a mottled appearance ; the down on the thighs and legs 

 is brown and not white. A nestling is covered with white down. 



Distribution. — The Black Vulture, though never so abundant as 

 the Kolbe's Vulture, is widely spread all over South Africa from the 



Fig. 134. — Otogyps auricularis. Copied from a drawing in the possession of 

 Mr. J. H. Gurney, taken by Wolf from life, x f. 



Colony to the Zambesi. It does not yet appear to have been noticed 

 in Angola, Nyasaland (except on one occasion), or German east 

 Africa, and the eared vulture of north-east Africa is now generally 

 considered to be a distinct species. 



In South Africa this Vulture is now scarce ; the South African 

 Museum possesses specimens from Malmesbury and Swellendam, 



