502 LAMMERGEVER 
wing-coverts generally, are of a glossy greyish-black, most of the 
feathers having a white shaft and a median tawny line. The 
quill-feathers, both of the wings and tail, are of a dark blackish- 
grey. The irides are of a light orange, and the sclerotic tunics,— 
equivalent to the “white of the eye” in most animals,—which in 
few birds are visible, are in this very conspicuous and of a deep 
crimson, giving it an air of great ferocity. In the young of the 
year the whole head, neck, and throat are clothed in dull black, 
and most of the feathers of the mantle and wing-coverts are broadly 
tipped and mesially streaked with tawny or lightish grey. 
The Limmergeyer breeds early in the year. The nest is of 
large size, built of sticks, lined with soft material, and placed on a 
ledge of rock—a spot being chosen, and often occupied for many 
years, which is nearly always difficult of access, and not unfre- 
quently quite inaccessible, to man, from the precipitous or 
overhanging configuration of the cliffs. Here in the month ot 
February a single egg is usually laid. ‘This is more than 3 inches 
in length by nearly 24 in breadth, of a pale but lively brownish- 
orange. The young when in the nest are clad in down of a dirty 
white, varied with grey on the head and neck, and with ochraceous 
in the iliac region. How long the eggs take in hatching, or 
how long the young remain nestlings, seems to be unknown. 
Equally unknown is the length of time that elapses before the latter 
assume the adult plumage, but it is probable that this period must 
at least exceed a twelvemonth. 
There is much discrepancy as to the ordinary food of the 
Limmergeyer, some observers maintaining that it lives almost 
entirely on carrion, offal, and the most disgusting garbage; but 
there is no question of its frequently taking living prey, and it is 
reasonable to suppose that this bird, like so many others, is not 
everywhere uniform in its habits. Its very name shews it to be the 
reputed enemy of shepherds, and it is in some measure owing to their 
hostility that it has been extirpated in so many parts of its 
European range. Its usual mode of proceeding is said to be by 
suddenly rushing at the animal, especially if it be young, when in 
a somewhat dangerous position, so startling it as to make it lose its 
foothold and fall down the precipice.1 But the Limmergeyer has 
of oxide of iron on the feathers, and that the colouring-matter on the eggs (to be 
presently described) also arises from the same cause. This opinion has, however, 
been denied by several other naturalists, though none of them seem to have 
tried the experiment ; while Mr. Hume, who has (Scrap Book, p. 46), confirms 
Meves’s statement. In confinement, moreover, the bird has been observed 
always to lose or not to acquire its tawny tint. 
1 Stories are told of its attacking human beings under such circumstances, 
and the present writer is not disinclined to believe that some of such stories may 
be true, though he is unable to refer to any that rest on testimony sufficient to 
dispel all doubt, 
