EGYPTIAN VULTURE. 



breed of sheep in Arabia Felix, which are black and 

 white. Bruce, however, thinks this name has a different 

 origin, and derived from higher antiquity, since Rachma, 

 or the Vulture, was sacred to Isis, and considered as an 

 emblem of parental affection ; he therefore thinks it may 

 be derived from the Hebrew, Rechem, which signifies fe- 

 male love or attachment. Bruce adds, that this bird 

 builds its nest in the most deserted parts of the country, 

 and lays but two eggs. The parent birds attend their 

 young with great care, and feed them for the first four 

 months. It is considered a breach of order to kill any one 

 of these birds in Cairo. 



From Turkey this species ranges over Arabia and Per- 

 sia, and has been found in the Russian dominions as far 

 north as Astrachan, from whence it again extends east- 

 ward and southward, and has been taken in various parts 

 of India. Colonel Sykes remarks of them, " that they 

 are always found in cantonments and camps. For the 

 most part of the day they continue on the wing, soaring 

 in circles. When on the ground, they walk with a pe- 

 culiar gait, lifting their legs very high. They are efficient 

 scavengers." 



In the adult bird, the whole length from the point of 

 the beak to the end of the tail is from twenty-six to twenty- 

 nine inches ; and specimens from Africa are observed to 

 be the largest in size. The cere and beak are yellow, the 

 point brown ; the irides red : the naked skin of the cheeks 

 and front of the neck yellowish flesh colour ; the feathers 

 of the occiput and back of the neck slightly elongated : 

 all the plumage white except the primary and secondary 

 wing-feathers, the first of which are wholly black ; the 

 second have the proximal half black, which colour, ex- 

 tending beyond the ends of the great wing-coverts, forms 



