m 



Crows. The backbone was generally the only part of the beai 

 visible after their repasl ; and bo nicerj cleaned was the vertebral 

 column, thai it might have been done bj the scalpel of an anatomist. 

 They arc common camp-visitors, but by do means bo bold as others 

 of the family, preferring to feed in Becluded places, while the Egyp- 

 tian Vulture can be Been on almost every dunghill in India. Ii 

 would appear they prefer the carcases of the dog, Bheep, or 031 iii a 

 putrid state to any other sort of offal. In clear evenings, am! par- 

 ticularly after a sumptuous repast, thej maybe Been soaring incircles 

 at vast elevations, ami at dusk congregate in flocks of from thirty to 

 forty, frequently accompanied by Bengal and Pondicherry Vultures, 

 all huddled together on a rock or decayed tree : the white beads of 

 the two former distinguish them from the red of the PondicheiT] 

 Vultures. Fights sometimes ensue; hut, from the tardy movements 

 of the comhatants, they are seldom severe or bloody. Along with 

 the other Indian specics.it hunts the shores of the (ranges in search 

 of the dead bodies of Hindoos, and likewise follows the armies of 

 India in the field ; and when the roar of the cannon ami clash of war 

 have died away, they repair in hundreds to the scene, and glut on the 

 dead hodies of the fallen. 



3. Gyi»s bengalensis (Gmelin). 



Bengal Vulture. 



Is widely distributed over Bengal and the Lower Himalayan Range, 

 but does not appear to travel far into the interior of these 

 mountains. It is at once distinguished on the wing from having the 

 lower part of the back, and under surface of the wings, pure white ; 

 when the latter are closed, the white on the back is not visible. 

 These marks arc very distinctive, and sufficient to discover the bird 

 at very high elevations. Its total length is about '■'• feel : ami be 

 tween the tips of the wings it measures 7 feet S inches. Il is one 

 of the keenest-sighted of the Vulture tribe, and usually the first to 

 discover a (had animal. 



1. OtoGYPS ( ai.vis (Scopoli). 

 1'tiltnr Pondieeriatau, Latham. 

 Red-headed Vulture. 



Is found in Bengal, the Deeean, and Lower Himalayan Range, bul 

 does not travel any distance into i he interior of these mountains. This 

 species is easily distinguished from the others by the red colour of 

 the skin on the head ami mck. In size it IS less than the preceding. 



Total length about 2\ feet. Bill bluish-black, cere yellow, feel 



deep yellow. 



.".. Neophron percnopthrus (Linnaeus). 



Kgyptian Vulture. 



With perhaps the- exception of tin- (iovind Kite ( MUvUA ffOVUtda, 



8ykes), tnis is the most abundant and generally distributed of the 



