286 



AKABIAN VULTUKE AND ALPINE VULTUKE. 



ring round the neck. There is but little difference in the plumage of 

 the two sexes, but the bill of the male is pure white. 



We now arrive at the true Vultures, the best known of which is the 

 common Arabian Vulture, a bird which is spread over a very large 

 portion of the globe, being found in various parts of Europe, Asia, and 

 Africa. 



It is a large bird, measuring nearly four feet in length, and the ex- 

 pansion of its wings being proportionately wide. The general color of 

 this species is a chocolate brown, the naked portions of the neck and 

 head are of a bluish hue, and it is specially notable for a tuft of long 

 soft feathers which spring from the insertion of the wings. In spite of 

 its large size and great muscular powers, the Arabian Vulture is not a 

 dangerous neighbor even to the farmer, for, unless it is pressed by severe 

 hunger, it seems to have rather a dread of living animals, and contents 

 itself with feeding on any carrion which may come in its way. Some- 

 times, however, after a protracted fast, its fears are overruled by its 

 hunger, and the bird makes a raid upon the sheep-folds or the goat-flocks, 

 in the hope of carrying off" a tender lamb or kid. 



The usual haunts of this species are situated on the mountain-tops, 

 and the bird does not descend into the valleys except when pressed by 

 hunger. 



The specific title of 3Io7iachus, or " monk," has been given to this 

 species on account of the hood-like ruff" around its neck, which is thought 

 to bear a fanciful resemblance to the hood of a monk. 



The Alpine or Egyptian Vulture is, as its name imports, an in- 

 habitant of Egypt and Southern Europe. It is also found in many 



parts of Asia, and, as it has 

 once been captured on our 

 shores, has been placed in the 

 list of British birds. 



The general color of the 

 adult bird is nearly white 

 with the exception of the 

 quill feathers of the wing, 

 which are dark brown. The 

 face, bill, and legs are bright 

 yellow, so that the aspect of 

 the bird is sufl[iciently curious. 

 The sexes are clothed alike 

 when adult. On account of 

 the color of its plumagp, the Egyptian Vulture is popularly termed the 

 White Crow by the Dutch colonists, and Akbobas, or " White 

 Father," by the Turks. It is also familiarly known by the name of 

 Pharaoh's Chicken, because it is so frequently represented in the 



The Alpine or Egyptian Vulture 



(Neophron percnopterus). 



