THE GRIFFON VULTURES. 



117 



while Riippell's Vulture (Gyps rueppellt) is remarkable for the 

 whitish tips to the feathers of the upper surface. The Griffon 

 Vultures are distributed over the Mediterranean Region in 

 Europe, the whole of Africa, the Indian Peninsula, and the 

 Burmese provinces down to the Malayan Peninsula. 



I. THE GRIFFON VULTURE. GYPS FULVUS. 



Yultur futons, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 249 (1788). 



Cvps fulvus, Newt. ed. Yarr. Br. B. i. p. i (1871); Sharpe, 



Cat. B. Brit. Mus. i. p. 6 (1874); Dresser, B. Eur. v. p. 



373) pis- 3*9, 3 20 ( l8 79) ; Seebohm, Hist. Br. B. i. p. 4 



(1883); B. O. U. List Br. B. p. 91 (1883); Saunders, Man. 



Br. B. p. 301 (1889); Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B. part xxiii. 



Adult Male. Ashy-fulvous above, with a slight shade of grey 

 on some of the feathers, some of which are darker brown, 

 giving the bird a mottled appearance ; wing-coverts a little 

 paler than the back, the greater series edged and tipped with 

 creamy-white ; lower back and rump darker brown ; the upper 

 tail-coverts pale ochraceous-buff ; quills and tail black, slightly 

 shaded with brown, the secondaries broadly edged with ashy, 

 the inner ones tipped with ochraceous-buff; ruff round the 

 neck white, and composed of downy feathers; crop-patch 

 brown ; under surface of body creamy-brown, with narrow 

 whitish shaft-lines ; cere bluish-black ; bill yellowish-white 

 horn-colour ; feet lead-colour ; iris reddish-orange. Total 

 length, about 40 inches ; culmen, 3*7 ; wing, about 29^0 ; tail, 

 i2'o ; tarsus, 4*4. 



Adult Female. Smaller than the male (Newton). 



Young Birds. More tawny than the adults ; the ruff round 

 the neck composed of lanceolate feathers, which are whitish, 

 with tawny margins ; crop-patch rufous fawn-colour, like the 

 rest of the under surface, with a whitish mark down the centre 

 of each feather. Total length, about 38 inches ; wing, 27*0. 



The bird which I separated in 1874 as the Spanish Griffon 

 (Gyps hispaniolensis} is now considered by ornithologists to 

 be the young of G. fulvus, in which the ruff is downy instead 

 of being composed of lanceolate feathers. I accept this verdict 

 at present, but it is much to be desired that the changes of 



