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when the Griffons came down with a swoop, and the Neophrons hurriedly resumed their post of 

 observation ; while some Black Kites remained, and continued to filch a few morsels by their 

 superior agility from their lordly superiors." 



Unlike the Cinereous Vulture, which nests in trees, the Griffon Vulture is a rock breeder, 

 nesting in caves and hollows of the cliffs, the nest consisting of a few sticks or green branches 

 and grass, placed on the bare rock. Colonel Irby writes (I. c.) : — " One egg only is the usual 

 complement ; and they lay about the 20th of February. Should the first egg be taken, it seems 

 that they lay again about the 15th of April. Of course it is impossible to prove this ; but eggs 

 were laid at that time in nests which had been robbed in February. The egg is usually white, 

 but is occasionally marked with buff-coloured blotches — the nest being sometimes merely three 

 or four bits of green bushes laid on the rock. 



" It was a fine sight to see thirty or more of these gigantic birds fly out at once with a 

 rushing noisy flight from their nests, which they do if one fires a shot at the bottom of the cliff 

 in which they breed ; and this is the only method of finding the exact position of their nests, as 

 well as those of other rock-nesting birds, though later on each large crevice or hole where there 

 is a nest is plainly visible, owing to the dung which covers the face of the rock below, looking 

 as if a bucket of whitewash had been poured out of the cave. Vultures in Andalucia are far 

 more waiy than in other countries in which I have seen them, except of course during the 

 breeding-season. 



" How the numbers which inhabit Andalucia at times find sufficient to eat is a puzzle to 

 me ; they must be able to fast for some days, or else travel immense distances for their food, as 

 in the winter and spring it is unusual to see dead animals about ; but in the hot parching summer 

 months vast quantities of cattle die of thirst and want of pasture. A bull-fight is a sort of 

 harvest to Vultures, which flock in great numbers to revel on the carcasses of the unfortunate 

 horses that have been so cruelly killed." Mr. Osbert Salvin, who found large numbers of these 

 Vultures breeding in Algeria, says (Ibis, 1859, p. 178) : — " In one instance only did we find an egg 

 and a young one in the same nest ; in all other cases, one egg or one young one was the invariable 

 number. The eggs appear to be laid in the month of February, as most of the nests contained 

 young in the beginning of April. During the time of incubation, one of the parent birds sits 

 constantly, and, if frightened off, returns immediately. The nest is composed almost entirely of 

 sticks, which are used in greater or less abundance, as the situation requires. The eggs obtained 

 from wild birds generally show indications of natural colouring, in addition to the blood and dirt 

 with which they are usually stained. This colouring is dispersed in faint spots of a reddish hue, 

 sometimes all over the egg, but generally at the larger or smaller end. Of the four eggs in my 

 collection, three exhibit traces of this marking. The eggs usually placed in collections are laid 

 by birds kept in confinement, and this colouring is not observable. The young of the Griffon 

 Vulture, on emerging from the egg, is covered with white down ; the sides are dark." 



In my collection I have a tolerably good series of eggs of the Griffon Vulture, all of which are 

 pure white, except one from Spain, which is very distinctly spotted with red at the larger end. 

 In size they vary from 3ff by 2ff to 4f by 2§|- inches ; and Dr. E. Rey writes to me as follows : — 

 "I find that the average size of forty eggs is 92'4 by 69-2 millims., the two largest measuring 

 99-0 by 71-5 millims., and 93-0 by 72-75 millims., and the two smallest — 84-5 by 67-0 millims., 



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