Mr. Layard's ' Birds of South Africa.' 137 



thence below the eyes as far as the region of the ear, is covered 

 with a white woolly down without admixture of any of those 

 black bristles which exist in that part in specimens of G. bar- 

 batus. 



Dr. Riippell gives Abyssinia, Nubia, Egypt, and Arabia Pc- 

 traea as the habitat of G. meridionalis, to which must be added 

 Southern Africa. The Laemmergeyer of the Atlas range is G. 

 baibatus {cf. Cat. Rapt. B. Norw. Mus. p. 82). 



2. Neophron percnopterus (Linn.), Egyptian Vulture. 

 Mr. Blyth has recently pointed out (Ibis, 1866, p. 233) that 



N. ginginianus (Lath.) should be withdrawn from the synonyms 

 of N. percnopter-us (amongst which Mr. Layard, following the 

 example of previous authors, has included it), and restricted to 

 the nearly allied but distinct white Vulture of India. 



3. Neophron PiLEATUs (Burch.). Pileated Vulture. 



It is worthy of remark that South-African examples of this 

 species are somewhat larger than those obtained north of the 

 Equator. 



The late Dr. Vierthaler found this Vulture breeding in Sen- 

 naar during the months of December, January, and February. 

 He states (Naumannia, 1852, pt. i. pp. 46, 47) that the nest 

 was always built on a high Mimosa, and contained a single 

 egg, of a yellowish- or greyish-white, with rufous or yellowish 

 spots or patches. On the Gambia this Vulture has been ob- 

 served to nest on the silk-cotton tree (Cat. Rapt. B. Norw. Mus. 

 p. 55). 



In referring to the above remarks of Vierthaler, I may add 

 that many interesting notes of his ornithological researches 

 in North-eastern Africa were published in the 'Naumannia'*, 

 and those of his companion. Dr. Alfred Edmund Brehm, in the 

 * Journal fiir Ornithologie ' fj and that I have availed myself 

 of both these sources of information in many of the following 

 observations. 



* 1852, (pt. i.) pp. 28-58, (pt. ii.) pp. 56-63 ; 1853, pp. 18-22 ; 1855, 

 pp. 371-380, 469-479; 1856, pp. 68-76, and 1867, pp. 105-113. 



t 1853, pp. 74-78, 451-457 ; 1854, pp. 73-85 ; 1855, pp. 362-384, 

 481-496 ; 1856, pp. 328-335, 395-413, 464-497 ; 1857, pp. 76-03, 214- 

 222, 377-384 ; 1858, pp. 325-330, 400-410, 467-476. 



L 2 



