VULTURES. 257 



the birds are flying at a low elevation that they are able to detect such hidden 

 carrion. Not uncommon in the Himalaya at all seasons, the cinereous vulture visits 

 the plains of Northern India during the winter, and is in some districts one of the 

 commonest of its tribe at that season. Some individuals are of much lighter colour 

 than the typical form ; but there is every gradation in the colour of the plumage 

 from the one to the other. In Bulgaria the breeding-season commences early in 

 March ; and the young birds are described as ugly in the extreme, being covered 

 with brownish grey down, and having a pink cere and pale yellow legs and feet. 



The second European representative of the true vultures is the 

 ' griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), of which examples are shown on the 

 right side of our plate. Together with several other species, it constitutes a genus 

 characterised by the somewhat oval and transversely placed nostrils, by the length 

 of the metatarsus being less than that of the third toe, and the presence of fourteen 

 feathers in the tail. The vultures of this genus range over the whole of Africa 

 except the forest-districts of the west coast, the countries bordering the Mediter- 

 ranean, a considerable portion of Eastern Europe, and thence through Persia to 

 India, and so on to Siam and the Malay Peninsula. The griffon, or fulvocis vulture, 

 is a very variable species, ranging from Spain and North-Eastern Africa to India 

 and Turkestan ; the eastern form having a more rufous tinge of plumage. It is 

 specially characterised by the feathers of the rump and lower part of the back 

 having a pale centre along the shaft, and by the under wing-coverts being ashy or 

 tawny rufous. In the typical form from Eastern Europe the large ruff round the 

 throat is white, and the upper-parts of the body ashy fulvous, the rump and lower 

 portion of the back being dark brown, with the above-mentioned fulvous centres 

 to the feathers, while the wing-coverts are mostly edged and tipped with creamy 

 white, and the upper tail-coverts pale ochrey buff. The quills and tail are black ; 

 and the under-parts pale creamy brown, with narrow whitish shaft-stripes to the 

 feathers. The iris is reddish orange, the cere bluish black, the bill pale horn- 

 colour, and the foot leaden grey. The total length of the bird is about 40 inches. 

 The Himalayan griffon (G. himalayensis), ranging from the Himalaya to 

 Turkestan, differs by the white under wing-coverts ; while the African Riippell's 

 vulture (G. rueppelli), represented in the illustration on p. 258, may always be 

 distinguished by the feathers on the lower part of the back and rump being 

 brown with broad grey or fulvous margins, instead of with light centres. More- 

 over, the ruff is yellowish white, and the beak deep orange. The long - billed 

 griffon (G. indicus) is rather smaller than the typical form of the common 

 species, and differs from all the rest by its unusually bare head and thin beak, 

 and is further characterised by the feathers on the lower part of the back and 

 rump being whitish with faint brownish margins. It is an inhabitant of India 

 and the countries bordering the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal. An extinct 

 griffon vulture occurs in the Miocene deposits of Malta. 



Unlike the black vulture, the European griffon vulture frequents open and 

 rocky districts. Regarding its flight, Mr. O. Salvin writes that "it is a fine 

 sight to watch the ease with which the griffon sails through the air; the 

 apparently effortless extension of the wings seems amply sufficient to sustain 

 its huge body, and no flapping motion is necessary to enable it to mount to 



VOL. iv. 17 



