■27'S 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Vultures. 



and indeed in this state may be easily captured : 

 not that the task would be very pleasant, so strong 

 and disgusting is the effluvium which it emits. 



Bruce considers this bird to be the Rachamah of 

 Scripture (see the Appendix to his ' Travels'), such 

 being the name by which it is now known in Egypt. 

 In size the Egyptian vulture somewhat exceeds a 

 raven, its length being two feet live or six inches, 

 and the expanse of its wings about five feet eight 

 or nine inches. When in complete plumage, it is 

 of a uniform white, with the exception of the 

 greater quill-feathers, which are black. The fore- 

 head, cheeks, and throat are naked, the skin being 

 of a livid yellow. The eyes are dark. The bill is 

 slender and straight, abruptly hooked at the tip. 

 This state of* plumage is acquired by successive 

 changes, the first livery being umber-brown, which 

 is gradually exchanged, at each moult, for lighter 

 and lighter tints, till the purity of the white is com- 

 plete. It breeds in the clefts of rocks and on ele- 

 vated places ; its eggs are stated to be three or four 

 in number and of a white colour. Fig. 1269 repre- 

 sents the Head of this species. 



1270 (a), 1271.— The Turkey-Buzzard 



(Cathartes aura). This species is spread through 

 South America and the southern section of the 

 United States. It is common in Jamaica and other 

 West India islands. 



According to Wilson, the Turkey-Buzzard is gre- 

 garious, roosting in flocks on the limbs of large trees ; 

 rows of them may be seen on a summer morning 

 spreading out their wings to the rising sun, and 

 remaining in that posture for a considerable time. 

 They are, he adds, often seen in companies soaring 

 at an immense height, particularly previous to a 

 thunder-storm. His observations allude to this bird 

 as observed by him in New Jersey. Mr. Darwin, 

 on the contrary, states that "the turkey-buzzard is 

 a solitary bird, or at most goes in pairs. It may at 

 once be recognised from a long distance by its lofty 

 soaring and most elegant flight. It is well known 

 to be a true carrion feeder. On the west, coast of 

 Patagonia, among the thickly-wooded islets and 

 broken, land, it lives exclusively on what the sea 

 throws up, and on the carcasses of dead seals ; and 

 wherever these animals are congregated on the 

 rocks, there the vultures may be seen." Mr. 

 Waterton observes that though flocks collect as to 

 a common feast, still he does not consider the 

 turkey-buzzard to be gregarious, properly speak- 

 ing — that is, they do not form a colony, like rooks, 

 but each pair pursues its separate interests. We 

 suspect that this applies to most other vultures, 

 which congregate round the grand object of attrac- 

 tion — their putrid banquet. 



The turkey-buzzard breeds in May, in the deep 

 recesses of the solitary swamps of New Jersey, as 

 Wilson informs us, the female making no nest, but 

 laying her eggs in the hollow of some decayed 



•stump of a tree or log ; the eggs are three or four 

 in number, of a dull white, blotched, especially at 

 the larger end, with chocolate brown and dashes of 

 black. The male often watches while the female 

 is sitting, and, if not disturbed, the same pair will 

 occupy the same breeding-place for many years in 



.succession. The young are at first clothed with 

 whitish down. Both young and old, if molested, 

 disgorge the offensive contents of their stomachs, so 

 that it is not safe to attempt to touch them. 



The turkey-vulture is two feet and a half in 

 length. The bill is light horn-colour ; the nostrils 



.are wide slits ; the eyes are dark ; the head and 

 neck, for about an inch below the ears, are naked, 



'the skin being reddish, wrinkled, and beset with 

 short hairs, but the neck is not so much carun- 



>.culated as that of the black vulture. From the 

 back of the head to the neck-feathers the space is 



• covered with down of a sooty-black colour ; the fore 

 part of the neck to the crop is bare. The general 



-colour of the plumage is glossy brownish black, 

 ■with green reflexions; bill elongated, feeble, and 



curved only at the point. 



1270 (&). — The Black Vulture, or Gaelinazo 



^{Cathartes atratus). The Gallinazo inhabits South 

 America and the warmer parts of the northern 

 division of that continent ; and in South Carolina, 

 Savannah, Georgia, &c, may be seen in numbers 

 sauntering about the streets or sunning itself on the 

 tops of houses ; multitudes may be often observed 

 in the fields congregated round the carcass of any 

 dead animal, and blackening the ground like a flock 

 of rooks : they keep up a continual hissing while 

 engaged in their feast, from which it is not easy to 

 drive them, having become confident from long and 

 universal tolerance. 



Wilson says that the black vultures are indolent 

 in their habits, loitering for hours together in one 

 place. They do not associate with the turkey- 

 buzzard, from which they differ not only in their 

 much darker colour and other details, but also in 

 flight. They rise flapping their wings, and then 



i 



sail with them extended nearly horizontally ; while 

 the turkey-buzzard seldom flaps its wings— and when 

 sailing they form an angle with the body upwards. 

 The black vulture on the ground hops along very 

 awkwardly ; but the turkey-buzzard moves with an 

 even gait: the latter, unless pressed by hunger, 

 will not eat of a carcass until it becomes putrid ; 

 the former is not so fastidious, but will devour ani- 

 mal food without distinction. 



According to Mr. Darwin, the gallinazo has a 

 different range in South America from the turkey- 

 buzzard, " as it never occurs to the southward of lat. 

 41°. Azara states that there existed a tradition that 

 these birds at the time of the conquest were not to 

 be found at Monte Video, but that they subsequently 

 followed the inhabitants from the more northern 

 districts. At the present day they are numerous in 

 the valley of the Colorado, which is three hundred 

 miles due south of Monte Video. It seems probable 

 that this additional migration has happened since 

 the time of Azara. The gallinazo generally prefers 

 a humid climate, or rather the neighbourhood of 

 fresh water : hence it is extremely abundant in 

 Brazil and La Plata, while it is never found on the 

 desert and arid plains of Northern Patagonia, ex- 

 cepting near some stream. These birds frequent 

 the whole Pampas to the foot, of the Cordillera, but 

 I never saw or heard of one in Chile : in Peru they 

 are preserved as scavengers. These vultures cer- 

 tainly may be called gregarious, for they seem to 

 have pleasure in society, and are. not solely brought 

 together by the attraction of a common prey. On 

 a fine day a flock may often be observed at a great 

 height, each bird wheeling round and round with- 

 out closing its wings, in the most graceful evolutions. 

 This is clearly done for sport-sake, or perhaps is 

 connected with their matrimonial alliances." 



The gallinazo builds its nest in the large trees of 

 the low swamps. The length of this bird is twenty- 

 feix inches. The head and part of the neck are 

 covered with a black, wrinkled, carunculated skin, 

 beset with short black hairs, and downy behind ; the 

 nostrils are oblong slits. The general colour is dull 

 black, except the primaries, which are whitish on 

 the inner vane, with a cream-white bar on the outer 

 vane of the first four. 



1272, 1273, 1274. — The Griffon-Vulture 



C Vultur fulvus). This large species, which may be 

 regarded as an example of the more typical forms 

 of this group of birds, is a native of Silesia, the 

 Tyrol, Dalmatia, Spain, the Pyrenees and Alps, 

 Turkey, the Grecian Archipelago, Arabia, Syria, 

 Persia, and Africa. It is Le Griffon of the French ; 

 Weisskopfiger Geier of the Germans; Avoltoio di 

 color costagno of the Italians. 



Like all" its tribe, the Griffon feeds upon dead 

 carcasses, to which it is attracted in considerable 

 numbers, and when once it has made a lodgment 

 upon its prey it rarely quits the banquet while a 

 morsel of flesh remains ; so that it may be sometimes 

 seen perched upon the putrescent mass for several 

 successive days. It never attempts to carry off any 

 portion in its claws, not even to satisfy its young, 

 but feeds them by disgorging the half-digested 

 morsel from its maw — the ordinary manner indeed 

 in which the vultures rear their young, and which 

 is very different from that of the eagles, falcons, 

 hawks, &c, who bring living or yet reeking prey to 

 their nest, and tear it up for their brood. 



Occasionally this vulture attacks sickly animals 

 incapable of defending themselves: but this is only 

 when no other mode of satisfying its appetite pre- 

 sents. After gorging itself to repletion, the griffon 

 assumes an unchanged attitude, and patiently waits 

 till the process of digestion is complete : if disturbed, 

 it is incapable of flight, until it has freed its maw 

 from the oppressive load. 



The powers of wing possessed by the griffon are 

 very great, and it often soars to such a pitch as to 

 become invisible to human sight. In captivity it is 

 anathetic, or at least is only roused to animation by 

 the calls of hunger ; and having feasted, it resumes 

 its listless composure. Head and neck covered 

 with close white down ; lower part of the neck sur- 

 rounded by a ruff of long, slender, white feathers ; 

 a space on the middle of the breast is covered with 

 white down. General colour fulvous or yellowish 

 brown, verging towards buff; quill and tail feathers 

 blackish brown : length upwards of four feet ; fe- 

 male larger than the male. The general plumage 

 of the young is yellow variegated with markings of 

 grey, and the down of the neck is more or less 

 brown. Fig. 1265 is the Head of this species. 



1275, 1276. — The Cinereous Vulture 



{Vultur cinereus). Gyps cinereus, Savigny; Vau- 

 tour arrian and Vautour noir of the French; 

 Grauer Geier of the Germans. This species is a 

 native of the forests of Hungary, the south ol Spam, 

 Sardinia, Sicily. Western Asia, Egypt, and India. In 

 its habits, though the beak is stouter, and the claws 

 more curved than in most vultures (the sociable 



and Pondicherry vultures resembling it in these par- 

 ticulars), the Cinereous Vulture agrees with the rest 

 of its race. Temminck states that its food consists 

 of carrion, but never of living amimals, towards 

 which it manifests fear. Bechstein, on the contrary, 

 states that in the winter this vulture descends from 

 the mountain-ranges into the plains, where it attacks 

 not only hares, goats, and sheep, but even deer. 

 The farmers are said to suffer severely from its 

 depredations, for it will frequently pick out the eyes 

 of a sheep; but, as it is not shy, often pays the 

 penalty of its life to the watchful hunter, who is 

 well paid for shooting the marauder. 



Back of the head and neck denuded of feathers ; 

 the skin of a bluish cast ; on the rest of the neck a 

 yellow down ; sides of the neck furnished with 

 curled feathers, and an ample tuft of long loose 

 feathers at the insertion of the wings ; general 

 colour chocolate-brown ; tarsi half-plumed. Length 

 near four feet ; female rather larger. 



1277. — The Sociable Vulture 



{Vultur auricularis). Oricou of Le Vaillant; 

 T'Ghaip of the Hottentots. This noble bird, a 

 native of South Africa, is said by Le Vaillant to be 

 gregarious in its habits, numbers associating to- 

 gether in building their nests in the fissures of 

 craggy rocks, two or three nests being sometimes 

 in the same fissure or cavern, side by side, and 

 others in adjacent crevices : hence the title of 

 Sociable, a title which Dr. A. Smith considers to 

 be founded on error. He has never met with more 

 than one nest actually occupied on the same tree 

 (not fissure of a rock). The mistake has probably 

 originated in a new nest being occasionally built 

 adjoining to an old one which had been deserted 

 on account of its having become unserviceable. 

 The bird, he adds, seems but little disposed to so- 

 ciability ; more than two are rarely seen together, 

 and if four occur in the neighbourhood of a carcass, 

 the number is considered as great; while of the 

 griffon-vulture it is by no means uncommon to see 

 a hundred or even more congregated where carrion 

 exists. Head and neck red and naked ; folds of 

 skin originating behind the ears and passing down 

 the sides of the neck ; ruff of feathers at the lower 

 part of the neck black ; general plumage blackish 

 brown ; feathers of the under parts long and narrow, 

 covering a fine white down. Length nearly four 

 feet ; expanse of wings ten feet. 



1278. — The Pondicherry Vulture 



{Vulttir Ponticerranus). This species, which offers 

 nothing differing from its race in habits and food, 

 is found abundantly in various parts of India, as 

 Bengal, &c. Colonel Sykes met with it in the 

 Dukhun. It is solitary, more than two being seldom 

 if ever seen together. The top of the skull is re- 

 markably broad and flat ; a fold of skin, arising be- 

 low the ears, runs down each side of the neck, which 

 is flesh-coloured and naked, a few scattered haiis 

 being dispersed over it; ruff at the base of the 

 neck composed of short rounded feathers. Crop 

 covered with down ; plumage generally blackish 

 brown. Length thirty-six inches. 



1279. — The Chinese Vulture 



( Vultur leuconotus). A beautiful specimen of this 

 vulture is now living in the gardens of the Zool. 

 Soc. It equals a turkey in size : the general colour 

 is brownish black ; lower part of the back, under 

 side of wings, and inner side of thighs white ; when 

 the wings are closed, the white of the back is not 

 seen. Head brownish black, with short black hairs ; 

 back of the neck covered with whitish down ; the 

 front of it bare and of a livid flesh colour ; ruff at 

 the base of the neck dirty white ; white feathers 

 from each side lap over the crop ; cere blackish ; 

 bill horn-colour ; iris dark. In aspect and manners 

 this species is similar to the rest of its race ; and in 

 captivity is quiet and contented. 



1280. — Kolbe's Vulture 



{Vultur Kolbii). This species is generally dis- 

 persed through Africa and India; it occasionally 

 visits Sardinia. In South Africa it is very numerous. 

 Dr. A. Smith, speaking of Kolbe's Vulture, the 

 Vultur auricularis, and another species, the Vultur 

 occipitalis, says, " The three foregoing birds feed 

 exclusively on carrion. The Vultur Kolbn, though 

 not the most powerful, is by far the most courageous 

 species, and while it is feeding neither of the others 

 will venture to approach its prey. Its numbers, 

 moreover, are very great as compared with those 

 of the two other species, hundreds of them appear- 

 ing wherever there is carrion to attract them. So 

 numerous are they, indeed, that when an ox, a 

 horse, or other large quadruped lies dead, they as- 

 semble in hundreds, and in a few hours the whole 

 of the carcass is consumed. At such a time many 

 of these rapacious birds may be observed so exceed- 

 ingly gorged, as to be quite unable to fly ; when they 



