328 



INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY. 



One of these is the Griffon Vulture, of the Alps and Pyre- 

 nees ( Vultur fulvus, Fig. 255), caught near Cork Harbour, 

 in 1843.* The food of this species is carrion, on which it 

 gorges to repletion, rarely quitting the prey while a morsel of 



Fig. 255. GRIFFON VCLTURE. 



flesh remains; so that it is not uncommon to see it perched 

 upon a putrefying corpse for several successive days. It 

 never attempts to carry off a portion, even to satisfy its 

 young, but feeds them by disgorging the half-digested morsel 

 from its maw. It frequents the North of Africa, as well as 

 Europe, and congregates in considerable numbers when the 

 carcass of some large quadruped forms the banquet. J" 



The other is the Egyptian Vulture 

 (Neophron percnopterus, Fig. 256), one 

 of which is recorded by Mr. Selby to 

 have been shot in Somersetshire, in 1825. 

 It is this species which Mr. Bruce men- 

 tions as frequent in Egypt and about 

 Cairo, where it is called by Europeans 

 ' ' Pharaoh's Hen. ' ' These birds are never 

 Fig. 256.-NEo % pHR ON . moles ted by the natives, but encouraged 

 and protected, because of their services in 

 clearing away filth and offal. "Every group of the natives 

 has a pair of these Vultures attached to it. The birds roost 



* Thompson, in Annals of Natural History, vol. xv. 

 f Bennett. 



