BIRDS 



I7S 



Harrier (C. cineraceus) ; Hen Harrier (C. cyaneus); Kite {Milms idinus); Osprey 

 {Pandion haliaetus) ; Honey Buzzard {Pernis apivorus). 



Vultures. — Here are included large birds which for the most 

 part feed on carrion, and therefore play an important part in 

 nature as scavengers, in accordance with which habit the head 

 and neck are as a rule devoid of plumage, or only provided with 

 short stiff feathers. The long 

 beak is sharply bent down at 

 the tip, and there is a large cere. 

 These birds are common in the 

 warm parts of the Old World. 



A well-known species is the 

 Black Vulture {Vultur mona- 

 chus), which ranges from the 

 European and African shores 

 of the Mediterranean to India 

 and China in the east. Its beak 

 is black, like its plumage, while 

 the bare head and neck are 

 flesh-coloured, the latter being 

 further distinguished by a pecu- 

 liar ruff of feathers, as commonly 

 is the case in birds of the group. 

 Another typical form is Riippel's 

 Vulture {Gyps Ruppeli), a native 

 of North Africa. 



American Vultures differ in 

 a number of respects from those 

 of the Old World, as particu- 

 larly in the absence of a syrinx 

 (the organ of voice specially characteristic of birds), and the lack 

 of a partition between the right and left nostrils. To this group 

 belongs the largest of living flying birds, the Condor {Sarco- 

 rhampus gryphus) of the Andes, in which the spread of the 

 wings may be as much as 9 feet. The shining black plumage is 

 relieved by a white neck-ruff, and by white and grey shading on 

 the wings. In the male there is a fleshy outgrowth or wattle on 

 the top of the head. These birds, though mainly carrion feeders, 

 also prey on living animals. 



Fig. izo. — Sparrow-Hawk {Accipiter nisus) 



