407 
ChAT REX, 
THE BEARDED VULTURE (Gypaétus barbatus). 
Popular superstitions—Bearded Vulture or Lammergeyer—An early _nester 
—Repeated unsuccessful efforts to obtain eggs—Splendid powers of 
flight—A dramatic meeting—Encounter between Bearded Vulture and 
Griffon—Locate a nest—Description of cliff and surroundings—Reach 
terrace below nest—Ice and snow—Baffled—A forlorn hope—KReach the 
summit—Joining ropes—The descent—Am joined by Farquhar—The final 
lower—A jambed rope—Reach the nest—Bitter disappointment—Land on 
ledge below—The story of the jamb—Second expedition—Find a new nest 
—Description of situation—Reach point 100 ft. above nest—A dangerous 
cliff—A nasty descent—An overhung nest—Empty again!—An unsolved 
riddle—Quebranta-huesos, the Bone-breaker—A_ reputed habit—Watch 
Bearded Vulture carry and drop an animal's leg—It descends and feeds 
off fragments—Re-ascends with leg—Returns to carcass—Conclusive 
evidence of habit. 
l 
F all the great birds of prey there is 
none which appeals more to the 
popular imagination than does _ the 
Bearded Vulture or, to give it the 
imposing title which it still bears 
in mid-Europe, the Lammergeyer. 
There has been some dispute as 
to the correct nomenclature of this 
bird, some advocating the first and 
others the second of the names 
given. Those who yet cling to 
Lammergeyer do so partly for 
sentimental reasons ; the bird is not 
British even in the most elastic 
interpretation and in the regions 
where it originally became known 
