EGYPTIAN VULTURE. 7 



more than half the length of the beak : upper mandible with straight 

 edges, hooked at the tip ; under mandible blunt, and shorter than the 

 upper. Nostrils, near the middle of the beak, elongated, longitudinal. 

 Head and neck partly bare of feathers. Wings long, rather pointed ; the 

 third quill-feather the longest. Legs of moderate strength and length ; 

 tarsi reticulated ; feet with four toes, three before, one behind ; anterior 

 toes united at the base. Tail-feathers fourteen. 



Two examples of this Vulture were seen on the shores 

 of the Bristol Channel, and one of them, now in the pos- 

 session of the Rev. A. Mathew, of Kilve in Somerset- 

 shire, was shot near that place in October, 1825. " When 

 first discovered it was feeding upon the carcass of a dead 

 sheep, and had so gorged itself with the carrion as to be 

 unable or unwilling to fly to any great distance at a time, 

 and was therefore approached without much difficulty 

 and shot. Another bird, similar to it in appearance, was 

 seen at the same time upon wing at no great distance, 

 which remained in the neighbourhood a few days, but 

 could never be approached within range, and which was 

 supposed to be the mate of the one killed." 



The Egyptian Vulture is included by Le Vaillant in 

 his Birds of Southern Africa. He found it occasionally 

 at the Cape, and still more numerous in the interior : 

 it has also been obtained by naturalists in the same locali- 

 ties up to the present time. It is there called by various 

 names which signify White Crow, the name referring to 

 the adult bird. Le Vaillant states that this species inha- 

 bits the whole of Southern Africa, and is infinitely more 

 common within the tropics than elsewhere. The Egyp- 

 tian Vulture does not live in flocks, like other Vultures ; 

 although, when attracted by a carcass, eight or ten may 

 be seen assembled. At other times it is rare to see more 

 than two together. The male and female seldom sepa- 

 rate. In the districts which this species inhabits, every 

 group of the natives has a pair of these Vultures attached 



