A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY OF NEPAL. 219 



shot fljing: with a loose charge of B. B., near the Residency 

 grounds in Februarj. 



4 ^^r.— Gyps tenuirostris, Hodgs. 



Length, 38'5 ; expanse, 89-5 ; wing, 23-4 ; tail, 10-7 ; tarsus, 

 3-9 ; bill from gape, 2-85 ; bill from anterior margin of cere, 

 straight, 1;78 ; length of cere, M ; depth of closed bill at cere, 

 1-03; width at gape, 1-35; closed wings short of tail, 2-5 ; 

 mid-toe, 4*0; its claw, straight, 1-2; weight, 121bs 7ozs. 



Culmen yellowish grey horny ; rest of bill dusky brownish 

 horny ; cere horny black ; irides deep brown ; skin of head 

 and neck dark muddy; scales of tarsi and toes black; the 

 interspaces dusky; claws horny black; head narrow, neck 

 long and slender, both very bare ; ruff of entire pointed feathers 

 earthy brown, paling at the tips; whole mantle with the feathers 

 conspicuously pale centred. 



I have carefully compared this specimen with examples of 

 G. indicus from Bengal and with S. pallescens of Hume, and I 

 entertain no doubt that my bird is quite distinct from both, 

 Gi/ps tenuirostris is darker than pallescens, and of much the 

 samecolour as specimens of indicus from the 24.Pergunnahs ; 

 but it is distinguishable at a glance from both these forms 

 by its much more slender and less powerful bill. As to the 

 distinctness of indicus from pallescens, I thought from an 

 examination of some specimens in Mr. Hume's collection, that 

 the latter was merely a paler western form, and not entitled 

 to specific rank. The Bengal bird, however, has the neck 

 more bare, and Mr. Hume has pointed out other differences 

 in Stray Feathers, Vol. VII, p. 166. 



The Himalayan Thin-billed Vulture is tolerably common in 

 the valley, and often associates with Pseudogyps hengalensis. 

 I shot the specimen above described in the Residency grounds 

 in October ; the bird was perched high up on a Eucalyptus 

 tree, on a branch that bent and swayed under its weio-ht. 



5.— Pseudogyps bengalensis, Gm, 



Two maZes.— Length, 32*5 to 33-0 ; expanse, 83 to 84 j wino- 

 22-2 to 22-4; tail, 92 to 9-3; tarsus, 3-6 to 3-8; bill from 

 gape, 3-6 to 275 ; bill from anterior margin of cere, straio-ht 

 1-88 to 1-9 ; depth of closed bill at cere, 1-2 to 1-3 ; width at 

 gape, ^1-5 , to 1-55 ; length of cere, 0-84 to 0*85 ; mid-toe, 3-92 

 to 3-95 ; its claw, straight, I'O; wings short of tail, I'O to 2*3 • 

 weight, 91bs. 8ozs, to lllbs. ' 



Three /emaZ^s.— Length, 33-5 to 36-8 ; expanse, 85 to ^1 • 

 wing, 22-8 to 23-3 ; tail, 10 to lO'S ; tarsus, 39 to 4-0 ; bill from 

 gape 2-6 to 2-7 ; from anterior margin of cere, 1-8 to 1-9 ■ 



