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Genus GYPAECHUS (Gloger.J 

 GYPARCHUS PAPA (Linnaeus.) 



KING VULTURE. 



There is probably among the whole tribe of Eaptorial 

 Birds none which can compare for beauty of colouring with 

 the present species. The elegant fawn tints of the plumage of 

 the adult remain to a considerable degree unimpaired when the 

 bird is stuifed ; but the magnificent orange, pui'ple, and crimson 

 colouring which is so remarkable on the skin of the neck and 

 head of this Vulture (when mattire) disappears rapidly after 

 life has ceased, and can only be partially represented in pre- 

 served specimens. The King Vulture inhabits the tropical 

 portions of the American continent, extending southwards to 

 about the twenty-eighth degree of south latitude ; and as far 

 northwards as Mexico, it does not appear, however, to occur 

 to the westward of the chain of the Andes. 



The King Vultm-e is not, by any means, a familiar species, 

 and it appears chiefly to fi-equent those districts that are covered 

 with the swampy forests, which form its favom-ite abode. Its food 

 consists of carcases of various animals, and occasionally of fish 

 that are left dead by the partial di-ying up of inland waters. It 

 also devoiu-s small reptiles, and is destructive to newly-dropped 

 calves and lambs, besides sometimes feeding on excrementory 

 substances. These Vultures generally Hve in pairs, but are 

 occasionally seen in companies of four or five when attracted 

 by food. When a Vulture of this species alights upon a car- 

 case, it is said that the Aura and Black Vultures withdraw till 

 it has satisfied its appetite ; and from this cii'cumstance it is 

 popularly designated as the King of the Vultures. 



The eggs of this Vultm-e are white, two or three in num- 

 ber, and are said to be usually laid in the interiors of hollow 

 trees. The legs and feet of the King Vulture are black, 

 tinged with grey. The cere and bare skin on the head and 



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