318 FALCONID^ GYPOHIEEAX 



and Mr. Hutchinson has observed them eating carrion along with 

 the vultures. Though also said to attack poultry, Layard, who kept 

 a specimen in his fowl house for some time, found that it did not 

 interfere with his hens though it robbed the nests of the eggs. 

 Bryden found a nest of the Bateleur on the Setlegoli river near 

 Mafeking ; it was placed in one of the highest and thorniest acacia 

 trees in the neighbourhood ; the nest, which was constructed of dry 

 sticks, contained one large creamy-white egg. Andersson gives a 

 similar account of the nesting habits of the species in Damaraland. 



Genus XI. GYPOHIERAX. 



Type. 

 Gypohierax, Bilpp. N. Wirbelth., p. 46 (1835) G. angolensis. 



Bill small, compressed at the sides, not toothed, nostrils per- 

 pendicular ovals entirely free from bristles; lores and ring round 

 the eye, and a line on either side of the throat bare of feathers and 

 bristles ; wings long, reaching the end of the tail, which is short, 

 about half the length of the wing and rounded ; tarsus longer than 

 the middle toe, covered with small hexagonal scales ; clothed only 

 in front on its upper portion. 



This genus was formed for the reception of a single species — the 

 Angola Vulture of Pennant. Its bare face and black and white 

 plumage give it some external resemblance to the vultures of the 

 genus Neophron, but most modern authors place it in the present 

 family near the other Pishing Eagles. The single species is con- 

 fined to the tropical coasts of west and east Africa. 



526. Gypohierax angolensis. Vulturine Sea Eagle. 



Falco angolensis, Omel. Syst. Nat. i, p. 252 (1788). 



Gypohierax angolensis, Gray Qen. Birds i, p. 7, pi. 4 (1844) ; Sharpe, 



Cat. B. M. i, p. 312 (1874); Ayres, Ibis, 1877, p. 340 [Potchef- 



stroom] ; G-urney, Ibis, 1878, p. 458 ; Sharpe, ed. Bayard's B. S. 



Afr. p. 798 (1884) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, 148 (1896) ; Beichenow, Vog. 



Afr. i, p. 603 (1901). 



Description. Adult male. — General colour white, scapulars black, 

 except the very highest which are mottled with white ; quills black, 

 the primaries mostly white, except the tips which are black, and 

 the outer web which is more or less mottled with black, the inner 



