188 CLASS AVES. 



four-fifths of an inch, and the rest is perfectly white. The 

 fourteen pen-feathers of which the tail is composed are wedge- 

 formed, which makes it seem to terminate in a point, as Bruce 

 affirms, and it does exceed the end of the wings by more than 

 half an inch. The thigh of the rachama is covered with a 

 very soft down, as far as the articulation of the leg. The leg 

 is of a dirty and almost flesh-coloured white, and is covered 

 with black and fleshy tubercles. The claws are black, very 

 strong, and crooked. The female is brown. 



This animal incessantly hunts after the most stinking car- 

 rion ; it exhales from its own body a most infectious odour, 

 and putrefies the moment it is dead. In Cairo it is considered 

 as a crime to destroy these birds. 



Sonnini tells us that these vultures are not ferocious in 

 Egypt : they are to be seen on the terraces of houses, in the 

 midst of the most populous and noisy cities, perfectly quiet, and 

 living in complete security amongst men, who feed and cherish 

 them with the utmost care. They also frequent the deserts, 

 and prey upon the carcases of men and animals which have 

 perished in those immense wastes, consecrated, as it were, for 

 ages, to nakedness, desolation, and sterility. Those which 

 inhabit Egypt are not known to quit it, but some of the same 

 species are to be found in Syria and Turkey; less numerous, 

 however, because they do not enjoy the same prerogatives, nor 

 is their existence protected in these countries by ancient 

 superstition, as in Eg)^t: for they were considered sacred 

 among the old Egjnptians, whose opinions on this point, as on 

 many others, have been transmitted to their successors, even to 

 this day. In truth, they perform very considerable services to 

 this country, in sharing with other birds, equally sacred in 

 ancient times, the task of destroying the rats and reptiles 

 which abound in this fertile and slimy region. They also clear 

 away the carcases and filth which under a burning sky, and 

 on a soil kept in a frequent state of humectation by the inun- 

 dations of the Nile, would otherwise fill the atmosphere with 



