VULTURES. 



251 



As in the preceding family, the nostrils are separated by a median partition, and 

 the feathers are furnished with after-shafts. The true vultures, together with the 

 lammergeiers, are restricted to the warmer regions of the Old World, where they 

 are almost universally distributed, although absent from the Malayan Islands, 

 Ceylon, Madagascar, and Australia. 

 - ~ . The magnificent bird known as the lammergeier, or bearded 



vulture {Gypaiitus harbatus), is the typical representative of a genus 

 in regard to the systematic position of which there has been some difference of 

 opinion among ornithologists. It differs from the true vultures in having the 

 head covered with feathers, instead of being naked or downy, and thereby 

 aj)proaches the eagles, among which it is placed by Dr. Sharpe. Its general 

 affinities, as remarked by Mr. Dresser, are, however, decidedly with the vultures, 

 among which we accordingly place it. In addition to having the head fully 

 feathered, the lammergeiers are characterised by having the oval nostrils concealed 

 by a number of stiff bristles, and also by the presence of a tuft, or long beard 

 of forwardly directed bristles. The long and comj^ressed beak ascends in front 

 of the cere, and then curves, with its tip much hooked. The wings are long, with 

 the first quill rather longei than the second, and the third the longest ; while the 

 tail is also long, and distinctly wedge-shaped. The true lammergeier, which ranges 

 from the mountains of Southern Europe and North-Eastern Africa through Asia 

 Minor and Palestine, and thence to the Himalaya, Central Asia, and the north of 

 China, is distinguished by the metatarsus being feathered down to the toes, and 

 the presence of black markings on the cheeks, and commonly attains a length of 

 about 42 inches. On the other hand, the somewhat smaller bare-legged lammer- 

 geier, from the mountainous districts of North-East and South Africa, has the 

 lower part of the metatarsus naked, and the sides of the cheeks entirely' white. 

 In the adult of the common species, the crown of the head and sides of the face 

 are white, with the bristles over the nostrils and a broad cheek-stripe, as well 

 as some scattered streaks, black ; the rest of the head and nape being whitish, with 

 the lanceolate feathers of the latter more or less tinged with bright tawny. The 

 upper-parts are black, tending to brown on the rump, and a tinge of ochre-brown 

 on the scapulars, with all the shafts of the back-feathers whitish, as are those of 

 the wing-coverts, wings, and tail. Beneath, the general colour is a lich orange 

 tawny, not unfrequently with a black gorget on the chest. The beak is horn- 

 colour, and the feet leaden grey , while the iris of the eye is pale orange, and the 

 surrounding sclerotic membrane or " white," a blood-colour, thus producing, with 

 the black pupil, a most nnnarkable appearance. In the 3'oung bird, as shown in 

 the upper figure of our illustration on the next page, the head, neck, and throat are 

 blackish brown, and the rest of the body-plumage pale brown, with the exception 

 of some creamy white patches on the upper part of the back. The female is some- 

 what larger than the male ; and the expanse of wing often exceeds 9 feet. Indian 

 examples are those which commonly show the black gorget on the chest. 



The lammergeier is essentially a mountain-bird, and, in spite of numerous 

 stories to the contrary, appears to subsist mainly on aninials not killed by 

 itself and carrion, although it may occasionally attack and kill some of the 

 smaller animals ; such at least are undoubtedly its habits in the Himalaya. 



