14 A Description of the Birds 



hairs ; the neck bare, or with a still more scanty covering of 

 the like materials ; and on each side thereof a thin fold of 

 loose skin, extending downwards and forwards several inches 

 below the ears, usually about one inch in breadth, and similar 

 in color to the head. Throat, and middle of breast, covered 

 with fine short black feathers ; back of neck with a ruff of long 

 narrow coarse brownish feathers, many of which are turned 

 forwards ; lower part of cervix, back, and shoulders, dark 

 brown, man}' of the feathers margined with a lighter tint ; 

 quills and tail black, with the latter consisting of twelve 

 feathers. Under parts brownish black, the feathers long, 

 narrow, somewhat curved, and broadly edged with white 

 towards their bases, and narrowly Avith dirty light brown 

 elsewhere ; thighs with a few brownish feathers on their 

 outer sides, but their principal covering is a fine reddish 

 brown down; legs and toes pale bluish, with a tinge of green; 

 claws dark horn coloured, inclined to black ; length about 

 three feet four or six inches ; expanse of wings ten feet. In 

 this species the back and shoulders are generally mottled by 

 an intermixture of white feathers, having the tips more or 

 less semicircular,* which circumstance, together with the 

 other feathers being to a certain extent pointed, renders it 

 probable that the plumage of the mature bird is nearly all 

 white, and that the specimen seen by Burchellt was one of 

 the present species in that stage. 



Young. — In immature specimens the bill is more of a dark 

 horn colour ; the eyes are a more deep brown ; the upper 

 part of the head and neck have a more dense coating of 

 brownish white down; the throat, and centre of the breast, 

 are nearly the same at all ages ; the color of the skin, neck, 

 and auricles is less bright, and the latter are rather smaller. 

 The back of the neck is without the ruff, at least the feathers 

 are not longer there than elsewhere, though a little more 

 frizzy ; the plumage above is dark brown, the feathers edged 

 and tipt with dirty rufous ; the quills and tail are of a less 

 dense black than in aged specimens ; the feathers of the 

 breast and belly are narrower and straighter, of a lighter 

 tinge, and with the edges and tips of a dirty light brownish 

 white ; the thighs are covered with a whitish down ;+ the legs 

 and toes are of a fainter bluish green, and the claws are more 

 horn coloured. Before the feathers appear, the bird is covered 



* Having observed that a change in the form of the tips of feathers usually 

 takes place in various Vultures, and other birds of prey, at times when they are 

 in their most vigorous and perfect state, I am inclined to believe that, eventually, 

 such will enable ns to discriminate between mature and immature specimens; 

 at least, of certain genera. 



t BurcbelPs Travels in South Africa, vol. 2, page 194. 



% The color. of the down of the legs seems to vary without any regular rule, 

 and, therefore, requires more observation in order to decide in what stage, or in 

 what sex, it exhibits the one hue or the other. 



