VULTURINA. S 
very thick and strong; crown of the head flat; cranium very 
large, otherwise as in Vultur. 
Otogyps calvus, Scop. 
2.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 7; Butler, Guzerat; Stray 
Feathers, Vol. III, p. 441; Deccan and South Mahratta 
country ; Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 369; Murray’s Verte- 
brate Zoology of Sind, p. 62; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central 
India; Ibis, 1885, p. 53; Hume’s Scrap Book, p. 8. 
THE InDIAN KING VULTURE. 
Lal Sirti Gidh, Hin. 
Length, 30 to 33; expanse, 80 to 88; wing, 225 to 24; tail, 
98 to 11; tarsus, 4:3 to 4°6; bill from gape, 2°6 to 3. 
Bill black; cere naked; head and neck deep yellowish-red, 
more or less spotted with black ; irides red-brown ; legs dull-red. 
Dark brown-black, lighter on lower back and rump, brownish 
on scapulars and some of the secondaries; quills black ; tail 
black, shaded with brown; crop-patch black, a zone of white 
downy feathers across the breast; beneath deep-black; inner 
side of thigh bare, with a patch of white above the joint. 
The Indian King Vulture, or, as Jerdon prefers to call it, 
the Black Vulture, has been recorded from all parts of the 
region. Jt is not uncommon asa rule, but only occurs singly 
or in pairs, rarely more than two being seen together. Itis of 
a very pugnacious disposition, and admits of no companionship, 
more especially when feeding. I have often seen a score or 
more of Gyps fulvescens, or other Vulture, patiently waiting 
until his kingship had gorged himself on a dead cow or other 
carcass before they dared approach. It is, I believe, a permanent 
resident, breeding wherever found. Jerdon states that “it is 
said to breed usually on inaccessible cliffs.” Murray also states 
that “it is said to do so in Sind.” This is contrary to my 
experience, and it may perhaps be noticed that neither of them 
speak from their own personal knowledge. I founda nest near 
Deesa in February ; it was a large, compact, cup-shaped structure, 
composed of twigs, placed in a thick thorny ber-bush, about ten 
feet from the ground. Later I found two others in similar 
situations. The locality where I found these nests was a rather 
extensive plain, studded with ber-bushes, with occasional high 
trees dotted here and there, and on one side was a range of hills, 
offering splendid sites to a cliff building bird, which however 
they did not avail themselves of. In Central India I have 
found the nests on lofty trees. The egg—there is only one—is 
pale greenish-white when first laid, but after a time, as 
incubation proceeds, it becomes more or less stained by the 
droppings of the parent birds. The texture is moderately fine ; 
the egg lining is green. They vary from a long oval shape 
to one nearly spherical, but generally speaking they are broad 
ovals. They average 3-4 inches in length by 2°6 in breadth. 
