312 



INTEODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY. 



One of these is the Griffon Vultm-e, of the Alps and Pyre- 

 nees ( Vultiir fulvus, Fig. 25.5), caught near Cork Harbour, 

 in 1843.* The food of this species is carrion, on which it 

 gorges to repletion, rarely quitting the prey while a morsel of 



Fig. 255.— Griffon VuLTrRE. 



flesh remains ; so that it is not uncommon to see it perched 

 upon a putrefying corpse for several successive days. It 

 never attempts to carry off a portion, even to satisfy its young, 

 but feeds them by disgorging the half-digested morsel from its 

 maw. It frequents the North of Africa, as well as Em-ope, 

 and congregates in considerable numbers vshen the carcase of 

 some large quadruped forms the banquet. t 



The other is the Egpytian Vulture 

 {Neophron percnopterus, Fig. 256), one 

 of which is recorded by Mr. Selby to 

 have been shot in Somersetshire, in 1825. 

 It is this species which Mr. Bruce men- 

 tions as frequent in Egypt and about 

 Cairo, where it is called by Europeans 

 " Pharaoh's Hen." These birds are never 

 molested by the natives, but encouraged 

 and protected, because of their services in 

 clearing away filth and offal. " Every group of the natives 

 has a pair of these Vultures attached to it. The birds roost 



* Thompson, iii Annals of Natural History, vol. xv. 

 f Bennett. 



Fig. 256.— Neophron. 



