Norwich Castle Museum. 35 
‘ and tarsal bones appears to be of great service to the 
bird in searching sun cracks in the parched soil for 
the reptiles which take refuge there after the waters of 
the smaller pools are dried up. Mr. Gurney has had 
one of the specimens so mounted as to show this sin- 
gular action. The remaining birds in this case belong 
to the Caracaras, or carrion-eating Hawks, natives of 
South America, a country inhabited by more birds of 
prey than any other region in the world. A member 
of this group, Sezex australis, inhabits the Falkland 
Islands, where one of our specimens was collected 
by Charles Darwin. In 
Case Il. 
we find the first of the true Vultures, a well-defined 
family inhabiting the warmer parts of both hemis- 
pheres. The typical Vultures are characterised by 
their heads and necks being more or less bare, which 
gives them a somewhat repulsive appearance, although 
some species are remarkable for the delicacy and 
vividness of their colouration ; their habit of feeding on 
carrion renders them invaluable as scavengers in hot 
climates where’ they most abound, and render impor- 
tant service in removing the putrescent animal matter 
which would otherwise prove pestilential. 
The Egyptian-Vulture, a Gier Eagle of Scripture 
(Lev. xi. 18, Deut. xiv. 17), (Weophron percnopterus), 
has a claim upon us as one of the two species which 
has wandered to our shores. A large series of these 
birds will be found in various states of plumage as well 
as skeleton and eggs. ‘These are followed in 
Case !II. 
by the Black Vulture (Cad?-7risia atrata) found in South 
America, and the Aura Vulture ¢C. azza) known in the 
