THE VULTURE. 1S5, 



Vultures are assembled to enjoy it, they quarrel a 

 good deal over the repast, and manj^ have to stand 

 back before their despot, the King Vulture (Otogyps 

 calvus), who keeps the plebians ofi till he is satisfied ; 

 though even he fears the great Adjutant Stork {Lep- 

 toptilus dubius), once so common in Calcutta, but 

 now, alas ! only a memory. The Bengal Vulture 

 is a dull dirty-looking bird of a dingy black, relieved 

 only by some white on the back and under the wing, 

 and this only noticeable in flight. The regal bird, 

 which is not nearly so numerous, is of a richer black- 

 ness, and has a bright red head, with a pendent flap 

 on each side, as the insignia of his rank. The young 

 of both are of a dirty brown, and in this resemble 

 our third local species, the Long-billed Vulture 

 (Gyps tenuirastris), which is, however, easily distin- 

 guishable by its very long and lean head and neck ; 

 it is quite a grey-hound among Vultures. The best 

 place to study Vultures and their want of manners is at 

 Dhappa, to which richly-flavoured locality I once 

 made an expedition for that purpose. Here the 

 Bengal Vultures fare somewhat meagrely on the 

 boiled garbage thrown out from the vats after the 

 town carcases of horse and bullock have been boiled 

 down for grease ; and as they are nearly as tame as 

 turkeys they can be easily watched. The Long-billed 

 birds are few and more shy ; they keep aloof, disdaining 



