THE ARABIAN VULTURE. 



21 



general color oi' the plumage is black, mingled with browii, the secondaries being slightly 

 tipped with white, and a few of the coverts edged with the same tint. On the neck, the back, 

 the shoulders, and the scapularies, the black hue is shot with bronze, green and piirple. Be- 

 neath the thick plumage is a light coatmg of soft white down, which apparently serves to 

 preserve the creature at a proper temperature. The bare skin of the neck is not as wrinkled 

 as in the zopilote, and the feathers make a complete ring round the neck. There is but little 

 difference in the ]3lumage of the two sexes, but the biU of the male is pure white. 



The Turkey Buzziird has a larger range than the other species. Its true habitat seems to 

 be near the tropical line, but in summer it extends to the British Provinces of North America. 

 It rarely, however, ventures eastward into the New England States. 



COMMON ARABIAN VULTURE.— Fa««;- monachus. 



Burrough's Vulture is the smallest of the tribe. Its JiaUtat is on the Mexican Gulf, and 

 Pacific side, and Lower California. 



We now arrive at the true Vultures, the first of which is the common Arabian Vulture, 

 a bird which is spread over a large portion of the globe, being found in various parts of 

 Euroije, Asia, and Africa. 



It is a large bird, measuring nearly four feet in length, and the expansion of its wings 

 being proportionately wide. The general color of this species is a chocolate brown, the naked 

 portions of the neck and head are of a bluish liue, and it is specially notable for a tuft of long 

 soft feathers which spring from the insertion of the wings. In spite of its large size and great 

 muscular powers, the Arabian Vulture is not a dangerous neighbor even to the farmer, for 

 unless it is pressed by severe hunger, it seems rather to have a dread of living animals, and 



