ORDER ACCIPITRES, 187 



mentioned, he says, in a note, " I do not think this bird 

 is the same with the vulture of Egypt, or the percnopterus 

 of Linngeus and Hasselquist:" while in another article, on 

 the vulture of Egypt, he assures us that this last has many 

 relations with the little vulture, or the vulture of Norway; 

 and sets down among its synonymes the percnopferl of Lin- 

 naeus and Hasselquist. It is the more necessary to notice 

 such errors, as they have crept into a number of p\iblications. 

 The reader, indeed, cannot be too often cautioned in this de- 

 partment of our work, against the mistakes of authors, of indi- 

 viduals for species, founded on the differences which charac- 

 terize age and sex only. 



This vulture, known by the Europeans who frequent Egypt 

 by the name of Pharaoh's Chicken, is called by the Turks 

 Akbohas, which means white father. The Egyptians and 

 Moors call it rachama. These names have been erroneously 

 applied to many birds of a totally different genus, such as the 

 pelican, the stork, and the swan. 



The individual described by Bruce under the name of 

 rachamah has a very strong and pointed beak, the end of 

 which is black for about three-quarters of an inch ; the re- 

 mainder is covered with a yellow and fleshy membrane, which 

 envelopes it above and below ; and the front of the head and 

 under part of the neck is covered in like manner by this mem- 

 brane, which terminates in a very sharp point at the bottom of 

 the neck. This membrane is very wrinkled, and the under part of 

 it is thinly set with a few hairs. The apertures of the nostrils 

 are very large, and so are the orifices of the ear, which are not 

 covered by any sort of feathers. From the middle of the head, 

 where the yellow membrane ends, to the tail, the body is per- 

 fectly white ; but the large feathers of the wings are black, and 

 six in number. After these come three small ones, of an iron 

 gray : these again are covered by three others, smaller still, 

 and similar in form, but of a rusty gray. The coverts of the 

 great feathers of the wings are iron-gray in the tips for about 



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