74 CASSELL'S book of birds. 



large feathers, and varies in its coloration, according to the age of the bird. The young are easily 

 distinguished from their parents by the fact that the feathers which cover their bodies are long and 

 narrow, and that their necks are enveloped in a streaming, ragged kind of frill. The members of this 

 group are found throughout the whole of the Eastern Hemisphere. 



THE TAWNY GOOSE VULTURE. 



The Tawny Goose Vulture {Gyps fulvus), the only species inhabiting Europe, is about forty- 

 one inches long, and ninety-nine broad; the wing measures twenty-six, and the tail eleven inches. 

 Its plumage is almost entirely of a pale tawny colour, darker on the lower parts of the body than 

 upon the back ; the large wing-covers are surrounded by a broad white border, the tail-feathers and 

 primary quills are black, the secondaries greyish brown, edged with reddish brown upon the outer 

 web. The eye is light brown, the beak rust colour, and the feet light greyish brown. The plumage 

 of the young is darker than that of the old birds, and the feathers upon their necks are long, brown, 

 and narrow. 



This species is frequently met with in the southern countries of Europe, and occasionally appears 

 in the more central provinces of that continent ; it also frequents Egypt, Nubia, Algiers, and 

 Morocco ; but although it is sometimes seen around the Himalayas, it is replaced in the lowland 

 districts of Hindostan by the Gyps Indicus and Gyps Bengalcnsis, two very similar birds. 



THE SPARROW-HAWK GOOSE VULTURE. 



The Sparrow-hawk Goose Vulture {Gyps Ruppellii), the handsomest member of this group, 

 is three feet two inches long, and seven feet six inches broad ; the wing measures two feet, and the 

 tail nine inches and a half. In the adult bird all the large feathers, except the quills and those of the 

 tail, are dark brown, tipped with a dirty white, crescent-shaped patch, thus giving a chequered 

 appearance to the body. The skin of the neck is greyish blue, and shades downwards at its sides 

 into a reddish hue, these colours being distinctly visible through the few scanty feathers with which it 

 is overspread. The eye is silver grey, the beak yellow at the base and grey at the tip, the cere black, 

 and the feet dark grey. The frill around the neck is formed of short, hairy, white feathers. In the 

 young birds the small feathers are dark greyish brown, with yellowish brown shafts, and the quills and 

 tail-feathers blackish brown. The eye is pale reddish brown, the cere and beak are black, the latter 

 tipped with blue; the feet are greenish grey; the ruff is composed of long, narrow, dark brown 

 feathers, each with a yellowish shaft. Several years elapse before the young acquire the full plumage 

 of the adult birds. 



The Sparrow-hawk Goose Vulture inhabits Nubia, and all the central portions of Africa with 

 which we are acquainted. The southern portion of that continent possesses another species, the Gyps 

 Kolbii, but of its distinguishing features we cannot speak with certainty. All the various species of 

 Goose Vultures usually frequent mountain ranges, and build their nests on the rocks or upon trees. 

 They live for the most part in very large flocks, which form extensive settlements during the breeding 

 season, and constantly associate with a variety of other birds. In many respects they are inferior to 

 the rest of the family, but their flight is light and elegant, and they walk with such rapidity that a man 

 must run very fast indeed in order to compete with one of them on terra firma. In disposition all are 

 violent and mischievous, and so extremely quarrelsome that battles and disputes are of constant 

 occurrence between them and other Vultures ; even those of the same species do not live on much 

 better terms, and often engage in such deadly encounters that they appear entirely regardless of 

 danger, and will allow a man to approach close to them. We have heard, on reliable authority, of an 

 instance in which a shepherd was compelled to employ the " argument of a thick stick " to a couple 

 of Goose Vultures, with which he laid about him very freely before he could persuade them to relin- 



