395 



1859, p. 180): — "Though at first sight this bird would appear to be hardly so numerous as 

 Gyps fulvus, yet its distribution is so much more extensive that I am inclined to consider it as 

 more abundant. It is to be seen usually in pairs ; and wherever a cliff exists in the mountains 

 that surround the tablelands of the Eastern Atlas, sure enough it will be occupied by a pair. 

 It was about the 20th of March when, riding from Tunis to Bizerta, I first saw this species, 

 after which this bird and the Black Kite (Milvus ater) were our constant companions throughout 

 our stay. Generally speaking, the nests of Neophron percnopterus are not so inaccessible as those 

 of Gyps fulvus. One nest which I visited near Kef Laks, and from which an Arab had taken 

 the egg and broken it, I could reach with my hand from a perfectly accessible ledge. This nest 

 was in a crevice of the rock, and was composed entirely of small sticks." M. Favier writes that 

 it " appears near Tangier in flocks during migration, some remaining to nest in the vicinity, 

 awaiting the retura of the autumnal migration, to winter probably in the interior of Africa. 

 Those which pass over to Europe cross from February to April, returning in August and 

 September. They nest on rocks in April, generally laying two eggs, sometimes only one. These 

 have a rough surface, and vary in shape. Sometimes there is an interval of two or three days in 

 the hatching of eggs in the same nest." 



The Egyptian Vulture inhabits the Canaries, Madeira, and the Cape-Verd Islands. According 

 to Mr. F. DuCane Godman (Ibis, 1872, p. 164), it is " common in all the Canarian group, where 

 some few pairs may usually be seen flying over the towns or large villages at a considerable 

 height. I once saw fourteen together near Laguna, in Teneriffe, feeding on the carcass of a 

 dead animal ; they were so gorged that they took but little notice of me, and allowed me to 

 approach quite close before they flew off. They breed in the rocks in the mountains of Teneriffe, 

 and most probably also on the other islands of the Canarian group. I have a fine-coloured egg 

 taken from a nest in a ravine near Chasna in the highland of Teneriffe ; it was brought me by a 

 countryman, and was quite fresh. He told me that he saw the old bird fly from the nest, which 

 he said was quite low down the cliff and easy of access. Vernon Harcourt mentions this Vulture 

 as occurring occasionally in Madeira. I never heard of it in the Azores, nor do I believe it ever 

 occurs there." Dr. Carl Bolle speaks of it as being exceedingly abundant in the Cape-Verd 

 Islands ; but, strange to say, Dr. Dohrn only twice met with it there, and Keulemans does not 

 appear to have observed it. It does not seem to occur on the Gold Coast ; but according to 

 Andersson (B. of Damara Land, p. 1), it is " not uncommon in Damara Land and Great Namaqua 

 Land and the parts adjacent, more especially in the neighbourhood of the coast. It is usually 

 found in pairs, and is a regular scavenger, being generally seen in search of the filthiest food." 

 Near the Cape-town end of the Cape colony, Mr. E. ,L. Layard writes (B. of S. Afr. p. 3), it is 

 " decidedly a scarce species ; but few specimens have reached my hands. I saw a single bird 

 feeding on a dead horse, off which it drove three hungry White-necked Crows (Corvus vulturinus) 

 not far from the Paarl. It is very abundant at the Cape-Verd Islands, breeding in the rocky 

 precipices in St. Vincent's, at the back of the town, off which the steamers lie to coal. I ascended 

 to their nests, which were vast masses of sticks ; but was, I believe, too late (December) for their 

 eggs. I have never heard of any instance of the bird breeding in South Africa. It may do so, 

 however ; and its nest should be sought in the mountain-ranges about Beaufort West and the 

 Zwartberg, where I saw it not unfrequently during my visit to those localities." Mr. Ayres 



