4 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



few specimens have reached my hands. I saw a single bird feeding 

 on a 'dead horse, off which it drove three hungry white-necked 

 crows (Corvus Vulturinus) not far from the Paarl. It is very 

 abundant at the Cape de Verde Islands, breeding in the rocky 

 precipices in St. Vincents, at the back of the town, off which the 

 steamers lie to coal. I ascended to their nests, which were vast masses 

 of sticks ; but was, I believe, too late (December) for their eggs. I have 

 never heard of any instance of the bird breeding in South Africa. It 

 may do so, however, and its nest should be sought in the mountain 

 ranges about Beaufort West and the Zwartberg, where I saw it not 

 unfrequently during my visit to those localities. 



3. Neophron Pileatus. (Burch. Trav., IL, P . 195.) 



jj>, N. Carunculatus, Smith ; Cathartes monachus, Temm 

 Percnopterns Niger, Less. Ibis, 1860, p. 286. 



PLUMAGE brown, variegated with fulvous on the thighs ; 

 tarsi black ; top of head, cheeks, and front of neck entirely 

 bare ; lower part of neck and posterior portion, almost to the 

 hind-head, covered with a close greyish down. Length, 2' 2"; 

 wing, 19"; tail, 7". 



Inhabits Kafirland (Dr. A. Smith) and Natal (Mr. Ayres). I 

 have not met with it, but have been informed that there are two Vul- 

 tures of this genus inhabiting the country North of ihe Orange River 

 and Damaraland One of them is the common N. percnopterus ; the 

 other probably the present species. 



The Third Sub-Family, 



VULTURIN^l, or Vultures, 



have the bill long, strong, more elevated than broad ; the 

 sides more or less compressed ; the base covered with a cere 

 for nearly half the length of the bill ; the tip suddenly 

 hooked over the lower mandible ; the nostrils placed in the 

 cere, with the opening oblique and exposed ; the wings 

 lengthened; the tarsi covered with small scales, and the 

 middle toe longer than the tarsus, while the lateral toes are 

 much shorter. 



Genus VULTUR, Linn 



Bill large, much compressed and flattened on the sides J 

 the cuJmen elevated, and much arched from the cere to th e 

 tip, which is hooked and acute ; the nostrils placed in th e 

 cere, and rather ovate. Wings lengthened, pointed, with 

 the first quill short, and the third and fourth the longest. 

 Tail moderate and rounded, with the shafts of each feather 

 strong, and projecting beyond the webs. Tarsi feathered 

 below the knee, and the rest covered with small reticulated 



