78 cassell's book of birds. 



The Scavenger or Egyptian Raven Vulture {Pcraioptems stercorarins or Neophron Percnop- 

 terus), by far the most celebrated bird of the above group, was called by the ancient Egyptians 

 " Pharaoh's Hen," and was treated with a considerable amount of superstitious reverence. This bird 

 has been in all ages a favourite subject for the pencil of Eastern artists, and even at the present day 

 the Egyptians preserve some remnant of the respect with which this remarkable species was 

 formerly regarded. It is distinguished from its congeners by its long, pointed wings, by its graduated 

 tail, which is of considerable length, and by the peculiarities of its plumage. Its beak is slender, 

 and more than half covered by the cere ; the upper mandible terminates in a long but feeble hook ; 

 the foot is weak, and its middle toe almost as long as the tarsus ; the talons are of moderate size and 

 but slightly curved. The third quill of the wing exceeds the rest in length, the second is larger 

 than the fourth, and the sixth longer than the first. The exterior tail feathers are only about two- 

 thirds the length of those in the centre. The plumage is extremely soft, and composed of large 

 feathers, which become much longer and broader upon the nape and upper part of the back. In 

 colour this species varies much, according to the age of the bird, but there is no perceptible 

 difference in this respect between the male and female. In the coloration of the adults a dirty 

 white predominates, which shades into deep yellow on the throat and upper part of the breast, 

 but becomes somewhat purer in its tint on the back and belly ; the primary quills are black, 

 the shoulder feathers grey, the colour of the eye varies from reddish brown to light yellow ; the 

 bare portions of the head, warts upon the throat, and upper part of beak are bright orange, the 

 latter being tipped with greyish blue ; the skin of the neck is paler than that of the head, and 

 the wings are blueish red, or light greyish yellow. In young birds, on the contrary, the shoulders, 

 upper wing-covers, a stripe across the middle of the breast and belly, the frill around the throat, the 

 neck, the rump, and tail-feathers are grey ; the throat, breast, belly, and quills of a blackish brown ; 

 the feathers on the top of the leg are chequered grey and black ; those at the side of the neck 

 have brown shafts and tips. The face, cere, and head are deep grey ; the eye is dark brown, 

 the beak black, and the leg light grey. The body of the female is from twenty-five to twenty- 

 seven inches long ; her breadth from sixty-one to sixty-three inches ; the wing measures eighteen 

 inches and the tail nine and a half. The Scavenger Vultures are frequently met with throughout 

 all the southern countries of Europe, and are very numerous in Western and Southern Asia, 

 and in all parts of Africa, with the exception perhaps of the western coast. Such of these birds 

 as are met with in Europe, migrate to warmer regions, whilst those inhabiting Asia and Africa 

 are stationary throughout the year. 



It would be impossible to over-estimate the immense services rendered to man by the 

 Scavenger Vultures, to whose appetite no kind of filth or refuse comes amiss. They devour carrion 

 freely, but this forms by no means their principal subsistence ; offal of all kinds they consume 

 with avidity, and were it not that Providence had assigned to these most active birds the task of 

 clearing away the garbage that the inhabitants of tropical and of some European cities are too indolent 

 to remove, fever and pestilence would rage with unremitting fury. Many writers speak of these 

 invaluable benefactors to humanity in terms of strong disgust, but for our own part we consider this by 

 no means warrantable. Ugly they certainly are, and the odours they spread around them somewhat 

 of the strongest ; but there is such a thing as the beauty of fitness, and, to our minds, this is 

 possessed by the Scavenger Vultures in an eminent degree, so exactly are they adapted to the part 

 they have to play in the economy of Nature. So totally are these birds destitute of fear, that they 

 not only approach, but enter the houses requiring their ministrations, and we have frequently seen 

 them busied in clearing away the refuse strewn about the tents of the Arabs, or accompanying 

 caravans for a whole day in the hope of obtaining the scraps thrown away by the travellers. Unlike 



