NEOPHRONIN^f 7 



single egg, or a single nestling, in a nest ; this would seem con- 

 clusive, but others state that they lay one or two eggs. 



The color of the egg is white, with a greenish tinge, and is 

 generally much discolored ; they are often spotted and blotched, 

 with various shades of reddish-brown. The texture is moderately 

 fine, the shell thick and strong, and the lining a deep green. 

 They vary much in size and shape, some being moderately long 

 ovals, while others are nearly spherical. They average 3'26 

 inches in length by 2'42 in breadth. 



SUB-FAMILY, Neophroninae. 



Bill lengthened, slender, straight, hooked suddenly at the tip ; 

 cere very long, occupying nearly two-thirds of the whole bill ; 

 nostrils longitudinal, nearly in the middle of the bill ; part of 

 the head and face naked ; neck with acuminated feathers ; wings 

 ample, pointed, the third quill longest ; tail moderate, wedge- 

 shaped, of twelve or fourteen feathers ; legs moderate, toes much 

 united at base by membrane. 



GENUS, Neophron, Sav. 



The characters are the same as those of the sub-family. 



Neophron ginginianus, Lath. 



6. Jerdon's Birds of India, Yol. I, p. 12 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. Ill, p. 442 ; Deccan and South Mahratta 

 country ; Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 369 ; Murray's Vertebrate 

 Zoology of Sind, p. 64 ; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; 

 Ibis, 1885, p. 54 ; Hume's Scrap Book, p. 31. 



THE WHITE SCAVENGER VULTURE. 



Length, 26 to 29 ; wing, 19 ; tail, 9 to 10 ; tarsus, 3 ; bill from 

 gape, 2-5. 



Bill horny -brown ; cere and face turmeric-yellow ; irides 

 reddish- brown ; legs and feet yellowish- white. 



Adult : yellowish or creamy-white ; quills black ; neck feathers 

 long, lanceolate, and tinged rusty ; secondaries dark brown, ashy- 

 white at base. 



The young bird has the plumage dirty-brown, with the quills 

 blackish-brown ; the back and rump albescent or tawny ; the 

 inner edge of the secondaries and of some of the primaries 

 cinereous ; the nude parts of head and cere greyish ; feet cine- 

 reous. 



In an intermediate stage the birds are mottled-brown and 

 white. 



The White Scavenger Vulture is another very common species, 

 and is found throughout the whole district ; it breeds during 

 March and April, generally on trees but occasionally on rocky 



