S04 



MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



only by a short down. In this family are the Bearded Vul- 

 tures, the true Vultures, and the Condor. 



The Bearded Vulture, or Lammergeyer (Gypa'etbs barbatus), 

 is the largest of European birds, measuring from nine to ten 

 feet from the tip of one wing to that of the other. This power- 

 ful and rapacious bird inhabits the mountain-ranges of the 

 south of Europe and the West of Asia, and feeds chiefly on 

 goats, lambs, and deer, which it kills by precipitating down 

 steep declivities. It is distinguished from the true Vultures by 

 the fact that the head and neck are feathered. 



The true Vultures have the head, and generally the neck 

 also, naked, or covered with down. They are filthy and dis- 

 gusting birds, which live almost entirely upon carrion, a pecu- 

 liarity which renders them of great service in hot climates. 



The Secretary Vultures (Serpentarius) are distinguished by 

 their very long and slender legs, unfeathered tarso-metatarsus, 

 and long wings armed with blunt spines. They are found in 

 Africa and the Philippine Islands, and live upon Serpents and 

 other Reptiles. 



The last member of this section is the gigantic C(fidor 

 (Sarcorhampus gryphus). This enormous bird has a stretch of 

 wing of over fourteen feet, and is usually seen soaring i'n ma- 

 jestic circles at a great elevation in the air, rising, it is said, 

 to a height of over twenty thousand feet. It inhabits the lofty 

 mountain-ranges of the Andes, and lays its eggs at a height of 

 from ten to fifteen thousand feet. It differs from the Vultures 

 of the Old World chiefly in possessing a large fleshy protuber- 

 ance or caruncle above the base of the beak. 



Fig •Kn.—Arc.'iaepteryx macrurn, showing tail and tail-fcalhers, wilh detached bones. 



