UGLIEST BIRD IN THE WORLD 281 
myself to come within a few feet of her and take a 
photograph. Mr. William Jesse states that upon one 
occasion, when he wanted to take the egg, the hen 
vulture refused to budge, and had to be poked off the 
nest with a stick. This behaviour is not altogether due 
to the maternal instinct; the bird is of a sluggish 
disposition, shows little fear of men, and is easily tamed. 
One of these fowls used to be kept as a pet in the 
Madras Museum ; it recently died of paralysis. 
The young scavengers, when they leave the nest, are 
sooty brown in colour, and in consequence are often 
taken for members of a different species. Then, 
gradually, white feathers show themselves, so that, 
after a time, the birds have a speckled appearance. 
Eventually they emerge resplendent in the adult plum- 
age, Is this transition from dark to light the result of 
sexual selection? Can it be that the lady vulture has 
taste in dress; that dirty white is to her what the hues 
of a sunset sky are to human beings? 
We have, in conclusion, to regard the fowl in its 
sacred aspect. The scavenger vulture is the last bird 
around which one would have expected to see the halo 
of sanctity, and I believe that I am right in saying that 
the Hindus do not regard all scavenger vultures as 
sacred, but merely a chosen few. These may be seen 
at Conjeeveram, in the Madras Presidency, by those 
who are not sinners, Those of us who are scathed by 
the wickedness of the world may see, hanging up in 
the Madras Museum, a photograph of the holy birds 
being fed by a Brahmin. These birds are said to be 
metamorphosed human beings. I forget their former 
