20 



VULTUnE. 



11— SOCIABLE. 



Vultur auricularis, Iml. Orn. Sup. p. i. DauJin. Orn. ii. p. 10. 

 L'Oricou, LevailL Ois. i. pi. 9. Shaw''s Zool. vii. pi. 10. 

 Sociable Vulture, Si/n. Sup. 2d. p. 11. 



THIS is a large species, and measures ten Feet from wing to wing 

 extended. The bill modei-ately hooked, pale brown ; cere horn colour; 

 irides chesnut brown; head and neck naked, flesh coloured, beset 

 with a few stiaggling brownish hairs; throat blackish; plumage, 

 above dark brown, the edges of the feathers paler; at the back of the 

 neck a pale bro\vn ruff; and some loose feathers of the same, mixed 

 \vith white, hang over the breast, continuing to the vent ; into this 

 ruff the bird draws down his head at will. Tlie thighs ai'e covered 

 below the knees with whitish down ; under parts of the body the same; 

 tail somewhat cuneifonn ; legs brown and scaly ; claws black. 



Inhabits the interior of the Cape of Good Hope, but not seen at 

 the Cape itself; builds among the rocks, and lays two or three white 

 eggs. Is not the most solitary species, for three or four nests have been 

 found by the side of each other. The natives call it Ghaip. By the 

 Dutch colonists it is knowTi by the name of Black Carrion Bird. 



