18 BEARDED VULTURE. 



disturbed, or the man is in a dangerous position. Two 

 will often attack a man whom they see hanging helpless 

 upon a rock; and on the other hand one will venture 

 single-handed to assail two huntsmen who are asleep. 



The nest of the Lammergeyer is not easy to take, 

 and the task is dangerous, as they always build in steep 

 rocks. The renowned chamois hunter Joseph Scherrer, 

 of Ammon, climbed barefoot once, gun in hand, to a 

 nest which he suspected to contain some young. Before 

 he reached it the male bird flew out; Scherrer shot 

 him through, and reloading his gun proceeded. But 

 when he got near the nest the female flew out upon 

 him, making a terrible noise, and fixing her talons in 

 his hips, and beating him with her wings, endeavoured 

 to drive him over the precipice. His wonderful 

 presence of mind saved him; with the disengaged hand 

 he pointed the gun to the bird's breast, and, pressing 

 the trigger with his naked foot, discharged it; the 

 Vulture fell dead. 



The Lammergeyer builds in places equally- inaccessible 

 to naturalists and bullets. Its nest is ingenious; the 

 sub-stratum is formed of a mass of straw, fern, and 

 stalks, lying upon a number of sticks and branches, 

 laid crossways one upon another; the nest, which rests 

 upon the under layer, is composed of branches woven 

 into the shape of a wreath, and lined with down and 

 moss, and the contents of this part alone would fill the 

 largest hay cloth. Very early in the year the female 

 lays three or four large white eggs, spotted with brown, 

 of which only two generally are hatched. The young 

 birds are covered with a whitish down, and their huge 

 ill-proportioned crops and maws give them an ugly 

 and shapeless appearance." 



We have been favoured by Mr. J. H. Gurney with 



