EGYPTIAN VULTURE. 7 



middle of the beak, elongated, longitudinal. Head and neck partly bare of 

 feathers. Wings long, rather pointed ; the third quill-feather the longest. 

 Legs of moderate strength and length ; tarsi reticulated ; feet with four toes, 

 three before, one behind ; anterior toes united at the base. Tail-feathers 

 fourteen. 



Two examples of this Vulture were seen on the shores of 

 the Bristol Channel, and one of them, now in the possession 

 of the Rev. A. Mathew, of Kilve in Somersetshire, was 

 shot near that place in October 1825. " When first dis- 

 covered it was feeding upon the carcass of a dead sheep, 

 and had so gorged itself with the carrion as to be unable 

 or unwilling to fly to any great distance at a time, and 

 was therefore approached without much difficulty and 

 shot. Another bird, similar to it in appearance, was seen 

 at the same time upon wing at no great distance, which 

 remained in the neighbourhood a few days, but could never 

 be approached within range, and which was supposed to 

 be the mate of the one killed." 



The Egyptian Vulture is included by Le Vaillant in 

 his Birds of Southern Africa. He found it occasionally 

 at the Cape, and still more numerous in the interior : it 

 has also been obtained by naturalists in the same locali- 

 ties up to the present time. It is there called by various 

 names which signify White Crow, the name referring to 

 the adult bird. Le Vaillant states that this species in- 

 habits the whole of Southern Africa, and is infinitely 

 more common within the tropics than elsewhere. The 

 Egyptian Vulture does not live in flocks, like other Vul- 

 tures ; although, when attracted by a carcass, eight or ten 

 may be seen assembled. At other times it is rare to see 

 more than two together. The male and female seldom 

 separate. In the districts which this species inhabits, 

 every group of the natives has a pair of these Vultures 

 attached to it. The birds roost on the trees in the vicinity, 



