1868.] MR. R. C. BEAVAN ON INDIAN RAPTORES. 391 



the ground, and not easy to approacli within shot of any weapon 

 except a rifle. 



Col. Tytler, however, was lucky enough to secure a pair of this 

 fine bird at Umballah, in the cold weather of 1865-GO, and he sent au 

 account of it to the ' Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' which 

 was published in March 18C6, p. 74. His dimensions are worth 

 recording, as they differ slightly from those noted by Jerdou, and 

 were taken from a freshly killed specimen, to my certain knowledge. 

 Length 43 in., wing 33, head and bill G|, tarsxis 5^, mid toe and 

 claw 6, extent S ft. 2 in. ; weight 17 lbs. 



Blyth, in ' Ibis,' 18G3, p. 24, gives its habitat as " the mountainous 

 parts of Europe and Asia, but rare in the plains of India." As far 

 as my personal experience goes, I have never once noticed it either 

 at Simla or Darjeeling, the only two hill-statious with which I am at 

 present acquainted. 



2. Otogyps calvus, Scop. Black Vulture. Vulgo " King of 

 the Vultures" of European residents in India. 



On the 15th March, 1865, I found a nest of this species at llam- 

 nuggur, a small village in the Maunbhoom district of Chota Nag- 

 pore. This village, which consists of only a few huts, is situated at 

 the foot of a peculiar-looking and steep hill, called Parasa ; and the 

 top of this hill being a station of the Great Trigonometrical Survey 

 of India, it will probably be found marked in a fair-sized map. Half- 

 way up the hill I came across a curious-looking low tree with a thick 

 spreading top, in the middle of which latter, carefully concealed 

 among the vegetation, was a large nest of sticks loosely put together ; 

 in it I found a single egg. The old bird flew off the nest as I ap- 

 proached, and to my surprise I recognized it as the female of this 

 species. There was but this single egg, which I was only just iu 

 time to secure, for the young bird had already begun to chip his way 

 out. I got him out, however, after some difliculty, and found the 

 dimensions of the egg to be in length 3g in., breadth 2g ; in colour 

 it was dirty white. 



The bird is tolerably common in Maunbhoom, and a carcass gene- 

 rally attracts two or three amongst hundreds of Gyps bengalensis. 



3. Gyps fulvus, Gmel. Large Tawny Vulture. 



This bird is abundant up country, about the stations of the North- 

 west Provinces of India, and in the hot weather apparently visits the 

 hills ; for I saw a very fine one seated on the top of a high pine tree 

 at Mahasoo, beyond Simla, on 29th September, 1866, in front of the 

 dak bungalow." At it I fired with a ball, but without the slightest 

 effect. 



In the plain-country about Umballah it is peculiarly abundant at 

 certain seasons. One I shot in the cold weather of 18G5-66 at 

 Sirhind measured in the flesh as follows : — Expanse from wing to 

 wing 8 ft. 2 in. ; length 3 ft. 7 in. ; wing 2 ft. 2 in. ; tail 1 ft. 2 in. ; 

 tarsus 4 in. ; bill at front nearly 3 in., its height If ; mid toe and 

 claw 5| : weight 14^ lbs. No feathered tarsus. Scuta on all the toes. 



