BIRDS OF PREY. 75 



quish their hold upon each other, and retire from the field. According to our own observations, 

 these birds do not begin their search for carrion until the day is far advanced. When they have 

 found a carcase, they at once commence upon the entrails, plunging their heads into the interior, and 

 dragging out their favourite parts with great excitement and. violence ; Lazar tells us that they often 

 fall upon sick and dying sheep, and kill the poor beasts in this revolting manner. 



In Europe the Goose Vulture breeds about March, and places its nest, which is formed of small 

 branches, upon a rock. Many couples often build but a few paces from each other, and it is not 

 unusual to see the nests of the Black Stork and some species of Eagles forming part of their settle- 

 ments. The brood consists but of one coarse-shelled white egg, which in size resembles that of a 

 Goose. Both parents assist in the somewhat lengthy process of incubation, and tend their little, 

 round, woolly ball of a nestling with great devotion and patience, for so weak is it when it first sees 

 the light, that three months often elapse before it is able to fly. It would be almost impossible to 

 render one of these birds really tame, but we have heard of an instance in which a Goose Vulture 

 became so much attached to an old mastiff belonging to its master, that when the dog died its 

 feathered companion refused to devour the body, even when very hungry, and, after pining for a few 

 days, expired, apparently through grief at its loss. The feathers of the Goose Vulture are much 

 esteemed in Egypt, and large sums, we are told, were formerly paid by Turkish merchants for articles 

 of dress made with them by some tribes of Arabs. 



The CRESTED VULTURES are distinguished from the above group by their strength and 

 compactness of body, as well as by their muscular neck, large head, powerful, eagle-like beak, and 

 broad wings. Their plumage is also thicker and softer than in the Goose Vultures; the head is 

 covered with short, curly, wool-like down, which is prolonged at the nape into a kind of crest, the 

 neck and part of the throat are bare, but the lower part is ornamented with a frill, formed of large, 

 broad, dark feathers. 



THE COWLED VULTURE. 



The Cowled, or Brown Vulture ( Vultur cinereus), as the European member of this group is 

 called, is forty-one inches and a half long, and eighty-five broad ; the wing measures twenty-nine, and 

 the tail fifteen inches. The female is from one inch and a half longer, and from two to three inches 

 broader than her mate. The plumage of this bird is of an uniform dark brown ; the beak is marked 

 towards the centre with red or violet, and the bare places on the throat with grey. The plumage of 

 the young is glossier and darker than that of the adults, and the downy feathers on the top of the 

 head are dirty whitish brown. 



The Brown Vulture lives and breeds throughout all the most southern countries of Europe, and 

 is met with in Africa in the regions around the Atlas Mountains. In Asia it is becoming extremely 

 numerous, owing, it is supposed, to the rapid spread of disease amongst the cattle, whose carcases 

 afford it a constant supply of food. The movements of this species are distinguished by a dignity 

 that is very unusual amongst the Vultures. Its eye is fiery and intelligent, its bearing much like 

 that of the Eagle, and its entire demeanour calm and almost majestic. Even when feeding, it 

 exhibits none of the haste and violence observable in the Goose Vultures. Its principal food appears 

 to be carrion, but it rarely touches the entrails, usually contenting itself with eating the flesh and 

 swallowing the bones of the prey, which, we are told on good authority, it sometimes kills. Unlike 

 those species above described, the Brown Vulture builds exclusively upon trees ; its nest is large, 

 and formed of thick boughs and small branches, the flat interior being lined with thin dry twigs. The 

 one white coarse-shelled egg that constitutes the brood in size resembles that of the Goose. Both 



