Descriptim List of the Common Birds 



with feathers, which stick out Hke the back 

 hairs of a schoolboy. These are, if possible, 

 rather dirtier-looking than the rest of the 

 plumage, and frequently assume a rusty hue. 

 Its bill is yellow, so are its naked face and its 

 legs. As ' Eha ' rema^rks : ' It does not stand 

 upright like the true vultures, but carries its 

 body like a duck and steps like a recruit.' . . . 

 It is a good flier, and when seen on the wing 

 looks quite a respectable bird. The under 

 parts of its wings appear pure white in the 

 sunlight, and the black border gives them a 

 finish." 



Young scavenger vultures are sooty brown 

 when they leave the nest and look like a 

 different species. 



This creature feeds on human ordure and 

 haunts the neighbourhood of latrines. It is 

 known to Thomas Atkins as the Shawk. It is 

 also called Pharaoh's Chicken. (lUus. B. D., 

 pp. 278 and 280.) 



In the Punjab it is replaced by a species 

 which resembles it in all characters, differing 

 only in being a little larger. This species is : 



145. Neophron fercnofterus : The Egyptian 

 Vulture, or Large White Scavenger Vulture. 

 (F. ii98),(J.6),(+V.) 

 179 



