62 



tliat " it nests in the caverns of the rocks; the female only lays 

 two white eggs, or very rarely thi'ee ; it is in October that 

 these vultures begin their amours, and in January theii- young 

 are all hatched. As they live in formidable troops, a single 

 mountain sometimes contains as many nests as there are places 

 in it suitable for thcii- reception. * * * These vultm-es 

 appear to live on very good terms among themselves, for I 

 have sometimes seen in the same cavern as many as three nests 

 side by side. Diu'ing the time of incubation tlie male guards 

 the mouth of the cavern where the female sits, which makes 

 it easy at that time to observe the nest ; but on the other hand 

 it is almost always inaccessible. I have, nevertheless, by the 

 help of my Hottentots, sm-mounted these ditficulties, and have 

 often risked" my life to examine the eggs of these birds, whose 

 resort is a truly disgusting cloaca and infected by an insupport- 

 able odour. * * * I have tasted the eggs of the Oricou, 

 as well as those of the Chassefiente fGyps fulvusj^ and have 

 found them sufficiently good to enable me to use them. The 

 yoimg Oricou, when hatched, is covered with a whitish down ; 

 on leaving the nest its plumage is of a clear bro^A^l, and all its 

 feathers are bordered with a rufous tinge ; those of the breast 

 and belly have not yet assumed theu' ensi-form shape ; the head 

 and neck are entii'ely covered with very fine down, and the ear 

 conchs are hariUy perceptible." 



Mr. Burchell, although he did not actually find the nests 

 of these vultures, confirms the account given by Le Vaillant 

 of theii' habit of resorting to rocky cliffs ; and in his account 

 of the South African Valley of Leewenkuil, he remarks that, 

 " here, imder the inaccessible crags of the precipice, the great 

 vultiu'es" (to which he had previously alluded as belonging to 

 this species) " hold their abode perfectly secure from all moles- 

 tation, and their retreat would ever remain imdistm-bed were 

 it not betrayed by the white stains from their dii-t." 



The following similar account of the nidification of the 

 North African race of this vidture is given by the llev. 



