IV FALCONIDAE 



151 



membrane is crimson (p. 147). The young are chiefly brown and buff. 

 From Portugal and Mauritania this species extends through the 

 lofty mountains of South Europe to the Himalayas and jS'orth China, 

 though practically exterminated in Switzerland and Carinthia ; 

 G. ossifragus (meridionalis), with no black stripe below the eye, 

 represents it in North -Eastern and Southern Africa. Avoid- 

 ing its own kin, the Liimmergeier often breeds near Griftbn 

 Vultures ; the large nest of sticks, lined with wool and hair, begun 

 very early in the year, being placed in some cavity of a cliff or 

 on a precipitous ledge, and containing one egg or rarely two 

 which appear pale orange owing to the confluent markings. The 

 flight is majestic and powerful ; the cry weak and querulous, with 

 a croak when irritated. In parts of Spain and India, natives 

 assert that this bird preys only on carcases ; but in Macedonia it 

 is said to carry off lambs, kids, and fowls, and no doubt occasion- 

 ally it kills small mammals and birds, though all statements 

 should be carefully criticised, as it usurps the name of " Grifo " 

 or Griffon in Spain, and tliat of Golden Eagle in India; while 

 conversely any Eagle is pointed out in the Alps as a Liimmergeier. 

 It has been credited with a habit of scaring young animals over 

 the cliffs by descending with a sudden rush, but its nature is 

 cowardly, and it does not seem to attack man ; yet marvellous 

 tales have been told of its strength and daring, some of which may 

 in part be true, though the evidence is hardly convincing. Like 

 JSfeopliron, it is said to carry bones up into the air, letting them 

 fall to break them, while land-tortoises are similarly treated in 

 Xorth Africa, and possibly this species is responsible for the death 

 of the poet ^schylus, on whose bare head a tortoise is alleged to 

 have been dropped.^ Gyj^oliierax angolensis, somewhat approach- 

 ing the Vulturidae, is white, with the secondaries, most of the 

 scapulars, the tips of the primaries, and the base of the tail 

 black ; the bare skin of the sides of the face and the feet are 

 flesh-coloured, and the beak is grey-blue. Rare in East and South 

 Africa, though common in the West, it is generally seen on 

 lagoons, rivers, or sea-shores, sunning itself on some elevation, or 

 skimming the water with laboured flight in search of fish. It will 

 attack animals and eat garbage. 



Sub-fam. 2. Pohjhorinae. Of the American " Carrion Hawks," 

 Polyhorus tharus is dull black, with whitish neck, back, l)reast, 



^ Salvin, His, 1859, p. 177 ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. x. cap. 3. 



