NEOPHRON PILEATUS. 7 
Mr. Henry Buckley sends the following note :— My eggs vary 
from 8:04x1:98 to 2°431°88 inches. They differ much in size and 
shape, but are usually a broad oval. They vary much in colour, from 
dirty white with faint markings of brown to others richly coloured 
all over with reddish brown, and frequently splashed with darker 
markings of the same colour. (I haveno South African specimens.)” 
General colour dirty white; feathers of nape narrow, elongated, 
and pointed; quill feathers of wings black; secondaries greyish 
black ; tail white ; bill long, slender, horn-coloured at the tip, yellow 
at the base; space round the eyes, cheeks, ears, chin, and part of 
throat bare and yellow. Length, 2’ 3”; wing, 1’ 10”; tail, 1’ 11”. 
The young bird is wholly of a dirty dark-brown. 
Fig. Gould, Birds of Eur. Pl. 3. 
6. NEOPHRON PILEATUS, Hooded Vulture. 
We have not ourselves met with this species, but have been in- 
formed that there are two Vultures of this genus inhabiting the coun- 
try North of the Orange River and Damara Land. One of them is 
the common N. percnopterus; the other probably the present species. 
Mr. Andersson says it is not common in Damara Land, but becomes 
more numerous as one approaches the Orange River. Mr. Ayres 
states that he has seen but few in Natal, but it is more plentiful 
towards the Zambesi, for Dr. Kirk writes :—“* The common Vulture, 
called ‘ Deze,’ of which no specimen was prepared, is universal ; it is 
a Neophron, resembling the common brown Vulture at the Cape.” 
It must be remarked that the Hooded Vulture of the countries 
north of the Equator is always a much smaller bird, although this is 
usually the case when Cape species occur in northern or western 
Africa. The Vulture from the latter parts shows the feathers of the 
hind neck ascending towards the nape, which has been made its claim 
to specific distinctness in a catalogue of the Birds of Prey in the 
British Museum, recently published by the editor. 
Plumage brown, variegated with fulvous on the thighs; tarsi 
black ; top of head, cheeks, and front of neck entirely bare ; lower 
part of neck and posterior portion, almost to the hind-head, covered 
with a close greyish down. Length, 2’ 2”; wing, 19”; tail, 7”. 
