1834.] of the Himalaya. 523 



ous ; darkest on the chin, throat, and fore-neck, whiter on the vent 

 and thighs. — A band or collar of dark brown feathers across the 

 bottom of the knee, joining the black on the back, and thus 

 forming a ring round the neck — back, scapulars, greater and lesser 

 wing coverts, brownish black ; the shafts of the feathers white, to- 

 wards which the webs also grow lighter — upper-tail coverts and 

 the quills of the wings and tail, greyish, or ashy black. — The 

 first quill of the wing is 2>\ inches shorter than the second, and the 

 third is the longest. — Tail feathers twelve in number, and gradually 

 decreasing in length from the centre to the outermost ones, form- 

 ing a well-marked wedge. 



Beak, feet, and claws faded to yellowish horn, the original colour 

 not ascertainable. 



The nostrils are entirely concealed beneath the jet-black bristles which 

 stand forward over them, and which are a continuation of, or rather 

 take their rise from, the point whence springs the black stripe which 

 passes over the eyes. — At the angle of the lower mandible is a bunch 

 of long Muck bristles, diverging and hanging down like a beard.' — The 

 beak is straight from the base to the end of the cere, which is very thin, 

 and it then rises into an arch, and curves strongly to the point. — Legs 

 short and feathered to the toes ; outer and hinder claws, the largest : 

 the inner one about half their size. — All moderately hooked, and much 

 worn at the points. 



In all other respects it appears to agree accurately with the descrip- 

 tion given of the Bearded Vulture in the " Gardens and Menagerie 

 of the Zoological Society." 



This specimen will be found to differ from the bird there figured in the 

 following particulars: — The Bearded Vulture is stated to have "the 

 upper part of the head of a dirty white," while in mine there is a 

 black line across the white ; this however might lead one to suspect 

 the bird to be a young one, although the rest of the plumage does 

 not appear to differ from that of the adult bird, showing no signs of 

 the " white spots, or spots of a lighter shade, scattered over the 

 back and wings," as alluded to in the work above-mentioned. 



Again, it is said to have " the first quill-feather of the wing nearly 

 equal to the second and third, which are the longest," &c. — In my 

 bird, the first quill is 3^ in. shorter than the second, which is a 

 quarter of an inch shorter than the third ; the third quill being conse- 

 quently the longest, and the fourth nearly equal to the second. 



This last character is perhaps a strong reason against supposing the 

 two birds to be identical, and together with the different marking of 

 the head and the ring on the neck, may go far to establish it as a 

 2x2 



