BIRDS OF PREY. 67 



degree formerly imagined. These birds breed in the spring time of their native lands, and build their 

 eyries either upon rocks or on the bare ground. The eggs, one or two in number, are round, coarse- 

 grained, and of a yellowish or grey tint, marked with spots or streaks of various patterns. In some 

 species, if not in all, both parents assist in the work of incubation. When hatched the young are 

 usually covered with a thick down, and are so extremely helpless that they are fed with carrion that 

 has been more than half-digested in the crops of the parents. At a later period they exhibit a 

 voracity almost exceeding that which distinguishes them when full grown. Many months, elapse 

 before the nestlings are capable of providing for themselves, and during all that time they are 

 tended and instructed with great affection by both father and mother, whose united efforts are 

 often scarcely sufficient to satisfy the cravings of their ravenous offspring. 



THE BEARDED VULTURE. 



To the Bearded Vulture (Gypaetos barbatus) is assigned the first place upon our list, as being 

 the noblest member of the group with which we are acquainted, bearing in some respects a resem- 

 blance to the Falcons. The body of this species is elongate, but powerful ; its head is large, long, 

 flat in front, and arching upwards towards the back ; its neck is short ; the wings, in which the third 

 quill is much longer than the first, are of great size and pointed ; the long tail is graduated or conical, 

 and composed of twelve feathers ; the beak is large ; the upper mandible, which is saddle-shaped at 

 its base, rises somewhat towards its tip, and terminates in an abrupt hook ; its margins are not 

 incised, and the lower mandible is straight. The feet are short, and by no means powerful ; the 

 toes of moderate length, and very weak ; the talons strong, and but slightly bent and blunt. The 

 plumage is rich, and composed of large feathers ; the origin of the beak is surrounded by bristles, 

 that grow over the cere and beneath the lower mandible, thus forming a kind of beard. The head 

 is covered with small bristle-like feathers, whilst those upon the neck are of large size; the rest of 

 the plumage lies compact and close, except upon the legs, the hose being also formed of large 

 feathers, which extend as far as the toes. In old birds the upper part of the body is black or blackish 

 brown, each of the individual quills being tipped and streaked upon the shaft with white ; the under 

 side is reddish yellow or white, spotted here and there with black ; greyish brown predominates in 

 the coloration of the young. The skeleton of this bird is remarkably massive. The back-bone 

 contains thirteen vertebra? in the neck, eight in the back, and seven in the tail ; the breast-bone is 

 long and broad, and its keel very deep. 



It remains at present undecided whether the Bearded Vultures found throughout Europe, Asia, 

 and Africa are to be regarded as different, or merely as varieties of the same species. Of these the 

 European is the largest, being, according to Tschudi, from four to four and a half feet long and nine 

 and a half broad. The tail measures twenty-one inches. The female is generally larger than her 

 mate. The different species, if such they be, vary somewhat in the coloration of their plumage. 

 The Bearded Vulture, or Lammergeier (Lamb Vulture), of the Swiss Alps inhabits all the lofty 

 mountain ranges of Europe, Asia, and Africa, living usually in pairs, or alone, and but rarely 

 appearing in parties of more than five. The flight of this truly formidable bird will bear com- 

 parison with that of many Falcons, and its powers of enduring fatigue are very considerable. Upon 

 the ground it steps somewhat after the manner of the Raven, but with much less ease and nimbleness. 

 Most wonderful tales have been told of the Ossifragra (Bone-breaker), as the Bearded Vulture was 

 called by the ancients, from the fact that its favourite method of despatching its victims is by preci- 

 pitating them from lofty cliffs, in order that the carcase may be shattered by the fall. Gesner, 

 who wrote about the fifteenth century, assures his readers that the eyrie of a Lammergeier, found in 

 Germany, " was placed upon three oaks, and was constructed of branches and other materials, so 



