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been commiuiicated to me by Mr. Edward Blyth, of Calcutta, 

 whose great knowledge of Indian Ornithology, and equal kind- 

 ness in communicating the results of his observations, are well 

 known to all who have had the advantage of his assistance on 

 such subjects : — " Gyps indicus differs from all the other 

 species of the genus Gyps in its comparatively slender bill, 

 and in the extent of the ceral portion of it, which occupies 

 nearly half, measui'ing fi-om the forehead. It is the only vul- 

 ture I have seen fi-om the Malay countries, and appears to be 

 very common throughout India ; but, as a general rule, affects 

 the open country; while Gyps hengalcnsis more affects densely 

 inhabited localities. During one season only, the cold weather 

 of 1845-6, considerable flocks of Gyps Indicus came into Cal- 

 cutta, and were common about the streets. How this came to 

 pass I could never ascertain to my satisfaction. "We have 

 always the Gyps hengalcnsis abundant about the Abattoir and 

 at the cremation Ghat ; but, at that particular season. Gyps 

 Indicus was equally abundant within the precincts of the town. 

 I remember having some large animal skinned, a Nilgau, I 

 think, in the compoimd attached to the Museum : a flock of 

 vultm-es, of both species, were attracted around the skinners ; 

 some perched on the wall close by, others fearlessly descended. 

 There was one particularly fine example of Gyps indicus^ and 

 I directed one of my youngsters to capture it; he threw pieces 

 of meat nearer and still nearer, and then suddenly seized it by 

 the wing with the utmost ease. I caged the vulture, and 

 some time afterwards shipped it for London, but never heard 

 what became of it. The experiment, however, could not be 

 repeated, though the others did not take further alarm than 

 that of profiting by what they had witnessed. An adult male 

 Gyps indicus measured 3 ft. 2 in. in extreme length, by 7| ft. 

 in expanse of wings, closed wing 24^ in., tail 10|^ in., bill 

 from forehead 2| in. (in a straight line, not following the 

 hook,) of which ceral portion l;^in., extreme depth of 

 bill 1,^ in., length of middle toe with claws 4| in. Irides dark, 



K 2 



