242 COMMON BIRDS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



make an astonishingly loud braying noise that is 

 quite startling until its source is ascertained. 



The only other kind of vulture common about 

 Calcutta is the great Pondicherry vulture, Otogyps 

 calvus. Except when on the wing and at some 

 distance it is a revolting fowl. Its plumage is of a 

 dingy blackish brown, and the naked skin of the 

 neck and the hideous and debased head is of an un- 

 pleasing yellowish-red tint. All vultures are apt to 

 have an evil odour, owing to the nature of their diet, 

 but Pondicherry vultures are especially distinguished 

 in this respect, and their presence is usually revealed 

 at a great distance by the overpowering stench of 

 putrid carrion that radiates from them and poisons 

 the surrounding air. They do not occur in flocks, 

 like the white-backed vultures, and are to be met 

 with either in pairs or as solitary birds, who domineer 

 over their smaller associates in the competition for 

 carrion, and look at a little distance more like 

 obscene turkeys than raptorial birds. 



Neophrons, although so common in other parts 

 of India, are very rarely to be seen within the limits 

 of the lower Gangetic delta. It is strange that 

 stray specimens do not oftener occur, for one can 

 hardly pass the line between the alluvial area and 

 the red-soil country to the west without presently 

 meeting with Neophron ginginianus. On awaking 

 after a night's journey from Calcutta by the Chord 

 line of the East Indian Railway, the change of 



