248 



The Falcon-like Birds 



family for the reception of the genus Gypaetus, as was long ago suggested. It 

 is a large bird, attaining a length of forty-two to forty-six inches, and a spread 

 of wings of some nine or ten feet. The following description of the plumage 



FIG. 80. Lammergeier, Gypaetus barbatiis. 



is from Newton: "The top of the head is white, bounded by black, which, 

 beginning in stiff bristly feathers turned forward over the base of the beak, 

 proceeds on either side of the face in a well-defined band to the eye, when it 

 bifurcates into two narrow stripes. A tuft of black, bristly feathers projects 

 beard -like from the base of the mandible. The rest of the head, the neck, 

 throat, and lower parts generally are clothed with lanceolate feathers of a pale 



