12 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



The sternum has the two foramina open posteriorly, and there 

 are 14 cervical vertebrre. 



Gen. Neophron, Sav. 

 Sjn. Percnoptoms^ Cuv. 

 Char. — Same as those of the sub-family. 



6. Neophron percnopterus, Lin. 



Vultur, apud LiNN^us — Stkes, Cat. 4— Jeedon, Cat. 4 



Blyth, Cat. 137 — Horsf., Cat. 8 — V. Ginginianus, Daud.— V. 

 stercorarius, Lapetrouse — Percn. ^gyptiacus, Steph. — PI. enl. 

 427, 429 — Gould, Birds of Europe, pl. 3 — Kal rnurgh, H. of Meer 

 Shikarees — Telia boraica,Tel. — Manjii-Tiridi, Tarn., i. e., Turmeric- 

 stealer, A^ulgo Fittri gedda, Tam., i. e., Dung Kite — Sind/to of Wao-- 

 rees — Soongra or Soonda in Sindh — Pharoah's Chicken in Egypt. 

 White Scavenger Vulture. 



Descr. — Adult, of a yellowish or creamy white, quills black, fea- 

 thers of the neck long and lanceolate, cere and face deep tur- 

 meric yellow, tip of bill horny yellow ; irides dark brown ; leo-s 

 dirty yellow. 



Length — 26 to 29 inches ; wing 19; tail 9 to 10, of fourteen 

 feathers ; tarsus 3 ; mid toe 3 ; bill at gape 2^. 



The young has the plumage dirty brown, with the quills blackish 

 brown, the back and rump albescent or tawny, the outer edge 

 of the secondaries and of some of the primaries cinereous, the 

 nude parts of the head and the cere greyish ; feet cinereous. In 

 a further stage the birds are mottled brown and white. 



This well-known bird is abundant throughout the greater part 

 of India, being more rare in Central and Northern India and 

 unknown in Lower Bengal. As is Avell known in India, its chief 

 food is human ordure, and some of its popular names signify 

 this. It also partakes of carrion, but its feeble bill is less qualified 

 for this kind of food. It walks with ease, stalking about with 

 a peculiar gait, lifting its legs very high ; and it also runs with 

 facility. It breeds on rocky cliffs, also on large buildings, pagodas, 

 mosques, tombs, &c., and occasionally on trees. It forms a large 



