NATURALIST IN' INDIA. 79 



smaller than might be expected in such a large bird. In 

 point of strength of -wing he has few rivals. The bearded- 

 vulture is usually observed sailing leisurely along the moun- 

 tain-side, now and then flapping his great wings when he 

 wishes to mount higher, as the American poet so beautifully 

 describes, "by invisible stairs ascending and scaling the 

 heavens ; " but let the govind-kite or Indian jackdaw annoy 

 him, then, with a rushing noise like that of a fierce wind, he 

 stoops with a grace truly grand and beautiful. Oft when 

 clambering along a rocky precipice, picking every footstep 

 with studious care, and daring not to lift my eyes for fear of 

 making a false step, have my ears been assailed by the furious 

 rush of the lammergeyer, and a feeling that if he only 

 touched me with his pinions I would have roUed into the 

 yawning abyss below. Although often seen feeding on carrion 

 and putrid animals, especially near European stations, in the 

 solitude of his native mountains he hunts with great in- 

 trepidity. Natives have told me that the young of bears, 

 ibex, wild and tame sheep and goats, are often carried away 

 by the bearded-vulture ; but I have not seen an animal larger 

 than a marmot in its talons. A red or cinnamon-coloured 

 powder is plentifully distributed among the feathers of the 

 neck and breast of young and adult individuals, and would 

 seem to be composed of soil containing iron, which they obtain 

 from dusting themselves like other birds — a habit much in- 

 dulged in by the denizens of rocky, bare mountains, from the 

 bear and the ibex down to the mountain-finch. 



The Indian vulture {Gryps ihdicvs) is gregarious, so far 

 that they generally roost in societies, but hunt singly ; its 

 long bill, coupled with the pale cinereous-brown plumage, 

 distinguish it from the Bengal vulture (G. bengalensis), which 



