208 Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 



IX. — Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 



We have received the following letters addressed "To the 

 Editors of ^The Ibis' " :— 



Sirs, — It is an established fact that the red colouring 

 matter in the feathers of the Bearded Vulture, Gypaetiis 

 harbatus, and also the coh)uring on its eggs, are due to super- 

 ficial deposits of oxide of iron, but how the oxide gets there 

 is still, I understand, a moot point. As regards the stains on 

 the feathers, two theories have been advanced : it ha? been 

 suggested that these may be due to the fact (a) that the birds 

 bathe in ferruginous streams, or (/>) that the iron is derived 

 from the birds' blood. Hume was inclined to think that 

 it was the latter (' Rough Notes,' pp. 45-46), as he em- 

 phatically states that the Lamm.ergeyer is a very dirty bird, 

 and never washes. For the last twenty years or so I have 

 been closely attending to the habits of this bird, and have 

 hitherto always been under the impression that it neither 

 bathes, nor drinks water. It may, therefore, be of interest 

 to some readers of yonr Journal to know that Avhile out 

 searching for nests of this species in a lonely mountain- 

 glen in the Koti State, close to Sinda, I came across a 

 spot to which the Lammergeyers ap[)arently habitually 

 resort, iiot only to drink, but also to bathe. One of 

 my native hunters had often assured me that he had 

 frequentl}^ seen these birds, and also Gyps Idnialayensis, 

 bathing, but up to this time I had refused to believe him. 

 To-day (the 29th October^ 1911) he exultingly drew my 

 attention to this fact. 



The spot selected by these Lammergeyers for drinking 

 and bathing was at the bottom of a small waterfall, and 

 during the course of a couple of hours or so I noticed no 

 less than four of them follow each other in quick suc- 

 cession, and without any hesitation fly straight to this place. 

 Three of them drank and the fourth had a bath. 



