2 VULTURIN.E. 



middle one by a membrane ; hind-toe short ; claws rather blunt, 

 strong, not much curved. 



SUB-FAMILY, Vulturinae. 



Bill large, thick, strong, higher than broad, hooked only at the 

 tip ; cere large ; nostrils naked, transverse ; head and upper 

 part of neck naked, or covered only with down; wings long, 

 first quill short, third and fourth quills sub-equal, fourth longest ; 

 tail moderate or rather short, with twelve or fourteen tail feathers ; 

 tarsus reticulated, with some large scutse near the claws. 



GENUS, Vultur, Lin. 



Tail with twelve feathers ; bill rather short, strong, deep, 

 curving from the end of cere ; nostrils round or oval ; tarsus 

 feathered from more than half its length ; claws strong, rather 

 -'acute.', / r :-/r \ ; 



The neck ; raff advances upwards towards the hinder part of 

 ;l*sad; and-, there is a transverse occipital crest of down ; 

 otherwise -as ra the characters of the sub-family. 



Vultur monachus, Lin t 



1. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 6 ; Butler, Guzerat ; Stray 

 Feathers, Vol. Ill, p. 441 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of 

 Sind, p. 62 ; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 

 1885, p. 53 ; Hume's Scrap Book, p. 1. 



THE CINEREOUS VULTURE. 



* Length, 42 to 45 ; expanse, 96 to 118 ; wing, 29'5 to 32 ; 

 tail, 13 to 16 ; tarsus, 4'8 to 5'5 ; bill from gape, 3'6 to 4. 



Bill horny, dusky black at tip, paler at base of upper mandible ; 

 cere pale-mauve ; naked part of neck delicate bluish-white, 

 occasionally shaded pink ; irides brown ; legs creamy-white. 



The whole body, including the wings, is a rich, very dark, 

 chocolate-brown, beneath darker ; quills and tail nearly black ; 

 ruff conspicuous, dense, feathers lengthened and lanceolate, rather 

 lighter in color than the back ; lores, cheeks, chin, throat, and 

 crown covered with dark-brown fur-like feathers, sparse below 

 but dense and soft on the upper parts of the head. 



This fine Vulture is comparatively rare ; it has not as yet been 

 recorded from the Deccan or South Mahratta country. Butler 

 only observed a single specimen in Guzerat, Murray states it to 

 be a winter visitant to Sind, and Jerdon notes its occurrence 

 in Central India, where I have myself occasionally met with it. 



Of its nidification in this country nothing appears to be 

 known, 



GENUS, Otogyps, Gray. 



Head and neck bare, sides of neck with a wattle of skin ; bill 

 * All dimensions are in English inches, 



