412 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 



The Cinereous Vulture generally places its nest on the dead 

 upper branches of old oaks. Leafy trees it avoids, as they 

 would render the flying to and fro almost impossible, for these 

 are movements which it always executes but slowly and 

 with difficulty. The nest itself is bigger than that of the 

 largest eagle, and seems to me to be more carefully and 

 solidly built, while the mud which is always plastered upon 

 its outer edge and the great branches of oak which form its 

 foundation give the whole structure a grey appearance. 



The Cinereous Vulture shows great anxiety about its brood, 

 and is far more heedless of danger than any of the eagles; and 

 both males and females take turns in the business of incuba- 

 tion, a habit I have never noticed amongst the eagles. That 

 this vulture does so, however, I know from personal observa- 

 tion. Its behaviour at the nest is also characterized by a 

 certain degree of recklessness, for one can hardly get it to rise, 

 and when frightened off it flies back in a few minutes and 

 again creeps into its dwelling. Every time, before leaving or 

 returning, the huge bird slowly erects itself upon the edge of 

 the nest, looks round with outstretched neck, and then, with 

 the assistance of its wings, settles itself inside in the clumsiest 

 fashion. 



I have personally observed five Cinereous Vultures' nests, 

 four of which were placed on enormous oaks and one on an 

 old wild pear-tree. At all of them the birds only left the 

 nests after they had been much disturbed, and one always had 

 to shout, hammer the trunk of the tree, and throw up bits of 

 stick. At one nest I had such remarkable evidences of this 

 vulture's want of caution, that I think they are worth 

 detailing. 



On reaching the place a forester and I tried to drive away 

 the devoted mother from her brood by shouting, stamping, 

 breaking branches, and throwing up the pieces, but all to no 

 purpose ; and it was not until I had missed the protruding 



