390 



VULTURID^J 



OTOGYPS 



Iris dark brown ; bill greenish-brown, tip yellow ; cere bluish- 

 lavender ; bare skin of head and neck varying from vermilion to 

 pale flesh ; tarsus and feet pale bluish. 



Length about 48-0; wing 31-0; tail 14-0; culmen 5-0 ; tarsus 5-40. 



Another specimen, probably a young bird, has traces of down 

 feathers on the head and neck ; some of the feathers of the upper 

 part of the back are tipped and edged with pale ashy-fulvous giving 

 that part a mottled appearance ; the down on the thighs and legs 

 is brown and not white. A nestling is covered with white down. 



Distribution. The Black Vulture, though never so abundant as 

 the Kolbe's Vulture, is widely spread all over South Africa from the 



FIG. 134. Otogyps auricularis. Copied from a drawing in the possession of 

 Mr. J. H. Gurney, taken by Wolf from life, x f. 



Colony to the Zambesi. It does not yet appear to have been noticed 

 in Angola, Nyasaland (except on one occasion), or German east 

 Africa, and the eared vulture of north-east Africa is now generally 

 considered to be a distinct species. 



In South Africa this Vulture is now scarce ; the South African 

 Museum possesses specimens from Malmesbury and Swellendam, 



