58 



times, thougli rarely, in the South of Europe. Messrs. Jaubert 

 and Barthelemy Lapommeraye, in their recent work on the 

 Ornithology of the South of France, quote an instance of the 

 occiu'renee of this Vultiu-e in the neighbourhood of Aries, and 

 another of its ha\'ing nested in Spain. The same authors state 

 that it is foimd in Syria, and that a specimen fi-om Mount 

 Lebanon is preserved in the Museum at Marseilles. This species 

 is also said to occui- in Greece, and I have the authority of 

 Monsieur Jules Verreaux for stating that the specimen No. 4 

 in the Norwich Museum was procured in that countiy. Many 

 of the specimens of this Vultui'e, killed in South Afi'ica, are 

 found to be destitute of the peculiar fold of the skin on the 

 sides of the neck, which produces the ear-like flaps that give 

 to this Yulture its specific name ; and north of the Equator, 

 the great majority of examples seem to be destitute of this 

 appendage. Some observers have even stated that this peculiar 

 fold of the skin is never found in the more northern specimens 

 of this bird, and many naturalists have therefore considered 

 that these more northerly specimens in reality belong to a dis- 

 tinct species, which has received the name of Vultur nuhicus 

 (Smith). I have not as yet adopted this distinction, considering 

 that further observation is indispensable before the question can 

 be considered as satisfactorily detennined ; and I may also ob- 

 serve, that the Abyssioian specimen, No. 2 in the Nonvich 

 Museum, certainly shews traces of the folds in question on the 

 sides of the neck. The enormous herds of antelopes and other 

 quadrupeds which are found in many parts of Africa, and many 

 of which are continually destroyed by lions or by hunters, 

 form the chief source of food for this gi'eat \'ulture. The carcase 

 which the lion has only partially devom-ed, or which the 

 hunter has not effectually secured, being always speedily dis- 

 covered and consumed by these and other carrion-eating birds, 

 except when they are anticipated by their nocturnal rivals, the 

 hyenas and the jackals. The name of Oricou was given to this 

 vulture by the great South African ti-aveller and naturalist, 



