CLASSIFIED NOTES 531 



THE VULTURES 



* 



[ORDEK: Accl/iit,-* *. STBORDER: /V,-,,<x. FAMILY: VuUuridcK] 



GRIFFON-VULTURE [G ; 'n>* fti/i-n* (Ilablizl); GJ//W fulvus (Gmelin). French, vautour 

 fauve; German, Gtinsegeirr; Italian, grifone]. 



1. Description. Recognised by its large size and bare head and neck. Total length 

 about 48 in. [1-220 nun.]. The sexes are alike. Head and neck scantily clothed with white 

 hair; encircling the neck is a ruff composed of white down, thicker on the hind-neck; general 

 colour of the upper parts brown; wings and tail rather darker; under surface o( the body 

 brownish buff, darkest on the upper breast, each feather with narrow, pale shaft-stripes; iris 

 hazel ; bill slate-coloured ; legs light brown. The young birds have the ruff reddish like the 

 rest of the under parts, [w. p. p. and T. AV.] 



2. Distribution. Breeds in the Mediterranean region and Western Asia, but is replaced 

 by allied forms in India and parts of Africa. In Europe it breeds in the mountain ranges of 

 the Iberian Peninsula, the Pyrenees, Sardinia, the Maritime Alps, Sicily, Greece, Turkey, 

 Bulgaria, lloumania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Transylvania, Hungary, Slavonia, and 

 Dalmatia, also in S. Russia to about 50 N. in the Urals. In Asia it nests in Asia Minor, Crete, 

 Cyprus, Palestine, Transcaspia, Turkestan, and east to India, where if, is replaced by the 

 Himalayan race. It also breeds in Northern Africa from Marocco to Tunisia and into the 

 Sahara, as well as in Egypt and the Nile valley. It has occurred in N. France, Holland, 

 Germany, and Ireland as n casual (Co. Cork, 1843), and has once been seen in England. 

 [F. c. R. J.] 



EGYPTIAN-VULTURE [NeopJiron percn6pterus (Linnaeus). French, vautour 

 German, xckmutziyer-Aasvogel; Italian, capovaccajo]. 



1. Description. Differs from the griffon-vulture in its much smaller size, and by its 

 white coloration. Length 25 in. [635 mm.]. The sexes are alike. Head, neck, excepting a 

 few whitish feathers in front of the eye, the whole of the plumage white, sometimes stained 

 with rusty, as are the long neck-hackles; primary flight-feathers blackish, secondaries brown ; 

 tail graduated ; iris red ; terminal part of bill black, basal part and the naked head orange ; 

 legs and feet livid flesh ; claws black. The young bird has the general colour blackish brown, 

 the feathers tipped with fulvous. As the bird advances towards maturity the plumage becomes 

 more ochraceous, and finally turns white, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. This species has a wider breeding range than the griffon. In Europe it 

 nests in Spain, Portugal, the Pyrenees, S. France, till quite recently at Mt. Saleve in Switzerland, 

 in Italy, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, occasionally in Transylvania, in Bulgaria, 

 Roumania, Turkey, Greece, and in Russia in the Bukowina, Crimea, Dneister valley, and the 

 Caucasus. In Asia it ranges from Asia Minor, Palestine. Arabia, and Transcaspia east through 

 Persia, Turkestan, Afghanistan, etc., to North-west India. In Africa it is found not only in 

 the Canaries, Cape Verde Isles, and North-west Africa, but also in Egypt and the Nile valley, 

 and in many other parts of Africa apparently to the south. It has occurred as a casual in 

 Madeira, Germany, Norway, and three times in England (two obtained, Somerset and Essex). 

 In Europe it is migratory, wintering in Africa. [F. c. B. J.] 



