GRIFFON-VULTURE. 5 



accounts given of this bird (if, indeed, it be the same 

 species) in countries further to the east, They have been 

 given in much detail by Mr. Allan Hume, Mr. Hudleston, 

 Mr. Charles Farman, and Messrs. H. J Elwes and T. E. 

 Buckley. Canon Tristram has described (Ibis, 1865, p. 264) 

 two extensive colonies in the cliffs near Mount Carmel, and, 

 in his ' Natural History of the Bible/ he states that there 

 can be no doubt of the identity of the Hebrew word Nesher 

 invariably rendered " Eagle " by the translators of our 

 accepted version with the Arabic Nissr, the modern name of 

 this species of Vulture. 



An egg of Gyps fulvus, taken by Mr. Philip Lutley Sclater, 

 the Secretary of the Zoological Society of London, at Kef 

 M'Satka, in the Eastern Atlas, in March, 1859, and given 

 by him to the Editor, measures 3'64 by 2*82 in. ; it is of 

 a pure white, with a few small markings of pale red ; but 

 more highly-coloured specimens are in other collections. 



The following description was taken from a fine living 

 specimen in the garden of the Zoological Society. The beak, 

 from the curved point to the cere, is of a yellowish- white 

 horn-colour ; the cere itself bluish-black ; the irides reddish- 

 orange ; the head, neck, and circular ruff of dull whitish 

 down ; the lanceolate feathers below the circular ruff, the 

 plumage of the upper surface of the body and the wing-coverts, 

 light yellowish-brown ; the shaft of each feather of light 

 wood brown ; the primaries and tail-feathers dark clove 

 brown ; the lower part of the neck in front, and the upper 

 part of the breast dull white, mixed with light brown ; under 

 surface of the body reddish yellow-brown ; the smaller under 

 wing-coverts light brown ; the large under wing-coverts 

 almost white ; the legs and toes lead colour; the claws black; 

 the anterior portion of each toe covered with six large scales, 

 the remaining portion and the legs reticulated. 



A specimen, sent to the Zoological Society by Sir Thomas 

 Keade, from Tunis, measured, from the point of the beak to 

 the end of the tail, three feet eight inches ; from the anterior 

 bend of the wing to the end of the longest quill, twenty- 

 seven inches ; the middle toe and claw five inches. 



