falconidte. 327- 



Distribution. India generally, from the Himalayas to Cap& 

 Comorin, only found as a straggler in Ceylon ; wanting in Lower 

 Bengal and to the eastward, replaced in the north-west by the 

 next species ; found in the Western Himalayas up to 7000 or 

 8000 feet. 



Habits, Sfc. This bird, in India, haunts towns and villages, and 

 lives largely on human excrement. It also eats carrion, but is not 

 commonly seen feeding on dead animals. It breeds from February 

 to May, making a nest on rocky or earthy cliffs, on buildings or 

 on large trees, and lays usually two eggs, generally richly spotted 

 and blotched with brownish red and measuring about 2*6 by 1-98, 

 The nest is a loose pile of sticks, generally rudely lined with rags, 

 sometimes with straw, cotton, or hair, or green leaves. 



1198. Neophron percnoptems. The Egyptiayi Vulture, or 

 Large White Scavenger Vidture. 



Vultur percnopterus, L. Syst. Nat. i, p. 123 (1766). 



Neophron percnopterus, Bhjth, Cat. p. 33, partim; Horsf. ^ M. 

 Cat. i, p. 6, pt. ; Sha7-2)e, Cat. B. M. i, p. 17 ; Brooks, Ibis, 1809, 

 p. 43 ; 1870, p. 290 ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, p. 236 ; Barnes, S. F. ix, 

 pp. 214, 450 ; Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 38 ; St. John, Ibis, 1889,, 

 p. 150. 



This is precisely similar to the last, except that it is rather 

 larger, with much larger feet and toes, and it always has the bill 

 dusky, never yellow ; the cere is reddish yellow, darker than the- 

 cheeks, and the claws blackish horny. 



Length about 26 ; tail 10 ; wing 19 ; tarsus 3-3 ; mid-toe with- 

 out claw 2-6. 



Distribution. This replaces the last species in the extreme 

 North-west of India, and is the common bird of the Punjab, Sind, 

 and Cutch, extending east to Delhi ; farther east than this yellow- 

 billed birds prevail. N. percnopterus ranges through Baluchistan, 

 Afghanistan, and Persia to Egypt and Southern Europe, and has 

 an extensive range in Africa. The occurrence of a single bird was 

 observed by Biddulph at Gilgit. Of course, there is some passage 

 between the two Neophrons, which are mere geographical races 

 scarcely deserving specific distinction. 



Pamily FALCONID^. 



The great majority of Raptorial birds belong to the present 

 family, which comprises Eagles, Buzzards, Kites, Hawks, Harriers, 

 Falcons, and a number of intermediate forms. They are distin- 

 guished from the Osprey by ha\lng the body-feathers provided 

 with an aftershaft, and from the Vultures by having the head and 

 neck feathered. In virtue of the last character Oypaetus (the 



