RARER BRITISH BIRDS. 3 



large dead hog put into a ravine and concealed in the briars ; 

 he saw many Vultures pass over it, but none approached it, 

 although several dogs had made a meal on it. He then 

 tried to approach it himself, but the smell was insufferable. 



Although we have, perhaps, no occasion for a scavenger in 

 our cold climate, yet, the Egyptian Neophron, having great 

 power of wing, occasionally strays here. Its proper habitation, 

 however, is on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, extending 

 for some distance into the African, Asiatic, and European Con- 

 tinents. Occasionally it is seen in flights of several together, 

 in pursuit of its favourite food, the most putrid carcases and 

 offal. 



The following specimens are those which have been either 

 seen or killed in the British Isles : One killed near Kilne, 

 Somersetshire, in October 1825, in the collection of the Rev. 

 A. Matthew, of that place. Another bird, of the same species, 

 was seen in the neighbourhood at the same time. A pair are 

 mentioned in " Mudie's Feathered Tribes of the British Islands," 

 as having been seen in the vicinity of Bridgewater, in 1826. 



The generic name of Neophron, was given to this bird by 

 Savigny, descriptive of its having the front of the head naked. 

 By Linnaeus and Gmelin the bird before us, together with 

 the rest of the Vulture tribe, were classed under the generic 

 name of Vultur. It has also been denominated Pharaoh's 

 Chicken, and is said, when in want of other food, even to follow 

 the plough, for the sake of worms and other insects turned up 

 by it. 



The Egyptian Neophron is the smallest of the Vulture tribe ; 

 the adult has the front of the head, the upper part of the throat, 

 and cere, naked, and of a bright yellow. The plumage is alto- 



