40 



KING VULTURE. 



about the size of a hen Turkey, and of a light 

 reddish brown or buff colour, with black wings and 

 tail, accompanied with a gloss of green, the edges 

 of the wing-feaihers being of a whitish cast : the 

 under parts of the body are white, with a slight 

 cast of yellow ; the legs and feet pale flesh-colour; 

 but what constitutes the peculiar ornament of the 

 bird is the vivid colouring of the head and neck, 

 which are bare of feathers, and are thus correctly 

 described in the words of Edwards. 



" The bill is pretty thick and strong, strait for 

 a little way, then bends into a hook, and over- 

 hangs the lower mandible: it is red at the point, 

 and black in the middle-part : the base of the bill, 

 both upper and lower mandibles, are covered with 

 a skin of an orange-colour, broad, and pointing to 

 the crown of the head on each side above, in which 

 spaces are placed the nostrils, of an oblong shape: 

 between the nostrils is a loose flap of scolloped 

 skin, which falls indifferently on either side of the 

 when the bird moves its head : the iris of the 

 eye is of a bright pearly whiteness : round the eye 

 is an inditTerent broad space of scarlet skin : the 

 head and neck are covered with bare skin; the 

 crown is of a dirty flesh-colour towards the bill, 

 and scarlet in the hinder part, behind which is a 

 little tuft of black hairs: from this tuft proceeds on 

 each side and parts the head from the neck, a sort 

 of stay of wrinkled skin, of a brownish colour, 

 with a little blue and red in its hinder part : the 

 gides of the head are of a black or dirty colour, 

 with spots of brownish pui^pie behind the angles of 



