BEARDED VULTURE. 13 
mark it as an object of destruction, and in obedience to what appears 
a natural law, like the Red Indian, it disappears before the march of 
civilization. Its home is in the wildest and most lonely parts of the 
grand mountains in the Indian and European continents. The traveller 
from the Himalayas meets with it again in the dreary Caucasus, as 
well as in the rocky heights of the Tyrol, or the gloomy grandeur of 
the snow-capped Alps. It is found in Egypt, Syria, Algeria, at the 
Cape of Good Hope, and in Siberia. It is rare in Switzerland and 
Germany, though still not uncommon in Sardinia. Occasionally it is 
found in France, and is not uncommon in Spain and Portugal. 
This bird forms the natural passage from the Vultures to the Falcons. 
Like the latter it feeds upon living prey, and the neck is covered with 
feathers. On the other hand, its alliance with the Vultures is strong 
and decided — in the form of its beak, and in the disproportionate strength 
of its talons to the size of the body. It also has its eyes even with 
the head, its wings are extended when at rest, and the crop when full 
projects at the bottom of the neck. 
Von Heuglin in his " Ornithologie Nord Ost Africas," writes of 
the variety called Meridionalis , whose habits are similar to its congener, 
as follows: — 
"The principal habitat of the Bearded Vulture ( Gypa'etus barbatusj 
is in rocky mountains, from whence it does indeed fly away here and 
there to warmer and more level districts, which, however, it never se- 
lects as its constant home. It prefers dreary points of rocks, near the 
icy regions, to every other, and there it builds its eyrie, and from thence 
it rises so high in the air that it appears to the keenest eye only a 
tiny speck in the blue ether. Our learned men from the studio describe 
the Bearded Vulture as a cunning robber, who boldly seizes upon large 
mammals — even upon men — and tries to knock them down. "We have 
had the opportunity of observing this bird daily for a long time in our 
immediate neighbourhood, we have killed many dozens of them, and 
upon dissection, to our astonishment, we have found that their food 
consists exclusively of bones and other remains from the slaughter-house. 
Only in case of urgent necessity will it feed upon dead men or animals, 
hunt down a monkey, or take away a sick or wandering goat. 
Like the Raven, it occasionally stalks about and hops sideways on 
the green meadows of the highlands, lying wait for the rats so nume- 
rous there. This bird has nothing in common with the Vulture proper, 
but rather with the Neophron as to its attitudes and movements, 
especially on the ground. In the early dawn of morning the Bearded 
Vulture leaves its rocky home, and roves far and swiftly over fields 
and villages to the valleys — often flying as quick as lightning, so that 
