IN JERDON OR STRAY FEATHERS. 321 



In some cases, where Jerdon's descriptions (quoted, doubtless, 

 from other authorities) seemed to me specially insufficient, I 

 am giving others. I might with advantage have done this in 

 many more cases, but I have had no time to work the subject 

 up, and merely take action under pressure and protest, hoping 

 that, with all its shortcomings, what I do may yet materially 

 facilitate the labours of my fellow-workers here. 



1.— Vultur monachus, Lin. 



Length, 42 to 45 ; expanse, from 96 to 118 ; wing, from 

 29*5 to 32 ; tail from vent, from 13 to 16 ; tarsus, 4*8 to 5*5 ; 

 bill from gape, 36 to 4'0 ; weight, from 12 lbs. to nearly 

 20 lbs., 14 lbs. being the average for males, and the females 

 being considerably heavier. 



The tarsus is covered in front, and on the sides, for more 

 than half its length, with a dense, almost silky fur, which in 

 one place almost meets behind. The bare portions of the tarsus 

 and the feet are, in some, a clear, slightly creamy white ; in 

 others, a pearl white, with here and there a barely perceptible 

 pink tinge. 



Irides brown ; lower eyelid creamy white, (often with a faint 

 delicate lilac or even purplish shade) pinkish at margin, and 

 with a row of thick short eyelash feathers ; upper lid and bare 

 eye-shelf pinkish, at times with a lilac shade ; cere, gape and 

 base of lower mandible a pale mauve, at times tinged in places 

 with pink ; bill horny blackish brown, darker on upper 

 mandible and tip of lower ditto, palest at sides of base of 

 upper mandible and of lower ditto ; the lores, cheeks, fore- 

 head, crown, occiput, chin and throat, and a patch on the 

 lower mandible, covered with dark brown fur-like feathers, 

 growing lighter towards the occiput. This fur is sparse and 

 rather harsh on the cheeks, chin and throat, but very dense and 

 soft on the upper portions of the head. The naked skin at the 

 back and sides of neck, and the bare patch over the articulation 

 of the jaws (generally continued as a ring upwards, behind 

 and over the dark fur border of the ear aperture, to within one- 

 half an inch or so of the posterior angle of the eye,) creamy, 

 or in some delicate bluish white, occasionally with a shade of 

 pink. 



The whole body and wings are a rich, very dark, chocolate 

 brown, (the under surface being darker than the upper,) the 

 quills and tail being almost black. The feathers of the lower 

 part of the back and sides of the neck are of a loose texture, 



