14 BEARDED VULTURE. 



From the root of the lower mandible of the bill it 

 hath a remarkable tuft of black feathers, for which 

 reason I have called it bearded : the mouth is blue 

 within side: the eyes are placed just above the 

 slits of the mouth; the circle round the eye is of a 

 bright yellow, and without that is another circle, 

 being a fine deep red skin, that is firmly fixed on 

 the ball of the eye : the sides and forepart of the 

 head are black, which blackness encompasses the 

 eyes and shews them to advantage : the nostrils 

 are covered with stiff black feathers: from behind 

 each eye extends a black line, which bends up- 

 wards and meets in the hinder part of the head : 

 it hath also a dash of black from each corner of the 

 mouth, which tends a little downward in the form 

 of whiskers : the rest of the head, and the whole 

 neck are covered with white feathers, short on the 

 head, but long, loose, and pointed on the neck, 

 like those on a cock's neck. The upper side, 

 back, wings, and tail are of a dark colour between 

 brown and black : the lesser covert-feathers of the 

 wings have dashes of bright reddish- brown down 

 their shafts, very narrow : the edges of the feathers 

 on the whole upper side are something lighter 

 than the other parts of the feathers: the greater 

 feathers of the wings and tail have their shafts 

 white : the middle feathers of the tail are something 

 longer than the side feathers: the insides of the 

 wings are coloured as they are without, except 

 that the dashes down the shafts of the covert fea- 

 thers are larger and whiter. It hath a space under 

 each wing covered only with white down, of the 



