148 Mr. A. B. Brooke on the 



dead carcasses to give each bird a meal every day. These birds 

 hunt over an enormous extent of country ; the pace with 

 which they soar through the air, when going from one point 

 to another, can only be realized from the inconceivable rapidity 

 with which they pass out of sight on a clear day when flying 

 at great heights. 



3. Gypaetus barbatus. 



This noble bird is decidedly common, a pair being in pos- 

 session of every separate range of hills, which they appear 

 to regard as their own territory, and from which they are sel- 

 dom to be found far distant. They are generally seen single or 

 in pairs ; but now and then I have observed three, and on one 

 occasion four, together. As a rule they are most decidedly 

 mountain-birds ; but occasionally a single bird may be seen 

 limiting over the plains and cultivated lands, not flying more 

 than 100 yards high. The nest of one found on the 18th of 

 April, was built on a broad ledge of a precipitous cliff about 

 300 feet high, within 20 feet of the top, and was completely 

 sheltered from the severity of the weather by a large over- 

 hanging piece of rock. After some trouble I discovered 

 a way by which, with a little care, I managed to get on to 

 the ledge, much to the discomfort of the solitary inmate, 

 a young nestling, covered as yet with a pale yellowish brown 

 down (figured in ' Birds of Europe/ Sharpe and Dresser, 

 part 15). The nest itself was an accumulation of dried sticks 

 with a cup-shaped hollow in the middle, and had evidently 

 been used for years. In it, and on the surrounding ledge, 

 were great quantities of the leg-bones and feet of goats &c, 

 and a part of a fox's lower jaw ; these being in all stages of 

 putrefaction, the smell was abominable. The old female, on 

 my first visit to the nest, sat extremely close, and, although I 

 was standing over her within 7 or 8 yards, would not leave 

 her young until I fired a shot, upon which she dashed off, 

 dropping almost perpendicularly, and was out of range before 

 I could fire. She flew over the valley and lit on a high pro- 

 jecting rocky pinnacle, upon which I could see her through 

 the telescope, sitting quietly watching all my proceedings. 



