84 TilHDS OK TT'NISIA 



uess of sight or on its sense of smell for its food, Inil there appears 

 now to ])e httle (loul)t that the fminei- is tlie sense which f^uides it 

 entirely in its search for this. The bird's habit of soaring and circling 

 high overhead certainly points to such being the case. Once food has 

 been discovered by one of these l)irds it is suf'ticient to attract a host, 

 for, as Canon Tristram no doubt rightly conjectures {Ibis, 1859, 

 p. 280), the Griffon which first descries its quarry and descends to it, 

 is observed and numediately followed by another of its kind further 

 off, which in its turn is followed by others still further away, and so 

 on, until all the Vultures of the neighbourhood are gathered together at 

 a spot where a short time previously but one or two of the birds at 

 most may have been in sight. Like other Vultures, the Griffon feeds 

 ahnost exclusively on carrion, and in the warm climates which form 

 its chief habitat, it must be looked upon as a most useful bird, fulfill- 

 ing, as it so admirably does, the part of public scavenger. Although 

 exceedingly voracious, and in the habit of gorging itself to repletion 

 when food is plentiful, the species is probably capable of fasting for 

 a consideral)le length of time, and nmst often do so in districts where 

 Hocks and herds are not numerous. These birds are so greedy that 

 they may sometimes be closely approached when feeding, and I 

 remember on one occasion surprising a large party thus engaged and 

 watching them fly off heavily within easy gunshot of me. Cold, how- 

 ever, as well as repletion, would seem to paralyse the Griffon and 

 render it incapable of action, and I recently saw a living bird of this 

 species, which had been captured near Palermo in a snowstorm by a 

 cloak thrown over its head. Fortunately for Vultures snowstorms are 

 of unusual and exce[)tional occurrence in Sicily. 



The Griffon is easily tamed, and when brought up from the nest, 

 becomes very domestfcated and fearless of man. During my last 

 visit to the Djebel Kessas, near Tunis, I very nearly, by mistake, shot 

 a tame bird of this species, which had been taken from the nest the 

 previous year. This bird, which was perfectly free, was in the habit 

 of taking long flights in the neighbourhood, and of associating with 

 wild birds of its kind, but always returned to the house where it had 

 been brought up, evidently looking upon this as its hon:e. It would 

 allow itself to be stroked and patted, and seemed perfectly at its ease 

 among human beings. 



The Griffon is an early breeder, and its eggs are to be found in 

 Tunisia, as a rule, between the end of l''ehruary and the end of March. 



