412 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 
The Cinereous Vulture generally places its nest on the dead 
upper branches of old oaks. Leafy trees it avoids, as they 
would render the flying to and fro almost impossible, for these 
are movements which it always executes but slowly and 
with difficulty. The nest itself is bigger than that of the 
largest eagle, and seems to me to be more carefully and 
solidly built, while the mud which is always plastered upon 
its outer edge and the great branches of oak which form its 
foundation give the whole structure a grey appearance. 
The Cinereous Vulture shows great anxiety about its brood, 
and is far more heedless of danger than any of the eagles; and 
both males and females take turns in the business of incuba 
tion, a habit I have never noticed amongst the eagles. That 
this vulture does so, however, I know from personal observa- 
tion. Its behaviour at the nest is also characterized by a 
certain degree of recklessness, for one can hardly get it to rise, 
and when frightened off it flies back in a few minutes and 
again creeps into its dwelling. Hvery time, before leaving or 
returning, the huge bird slowly erects itself upon the edge of 
the nest, looks round with outstretched neck, and then, with 
the assistance of its wings, settles itself inside in the clumsiest 
fashion. 
I have personally observed five Cinereous Vultures’ nests, 
four of which were placed on enormous oaks and one on an 
old wild pear-tree. At all of them the birds only left the 
nests after they had been much disturbed, and one always had 
to shout, hammer the trunk of the tree, and throw up bits of 
stick. At one nest I had such remarkable evidences of this 
vulture’s want of caution, that I think they are worth 
detailing. 
On reaching the place a forester and I tried to drive away 
the devoted mother from her brood by shouting, stamping, 
breaking branches, and throwing up the pieces, but all to no 
purpose ; and it was not until I had missed the protruding 
