23S Mr. J. H. Gurney’s List of a Collection of Birds 
crept out from my cover, for the purpose of despatching the 
ox with my second, when behold nothing but a skeleton was 
before me!—the whole of the noises were made by the birds 
themselves. I never was more astonished in my life. No one 
would credit the power of lungs these birds have. As for the 
struggles of the ox, it must have been the noise of their wings, 
as they were in one mass, tearing and fighting and struggling 
together, some fifty of them. It was a wild sight, and well worth 
the seeing. 
3. Neophron percnopterus (Linn.). Egyptian Vulture. 
Male. Eye reddish brown ; skin round the eye and neck 
bright yellow; legs pale. This is a very rare bird here, and we 
know next to nothing of its habits. In its stomach we found 
bits of bone from one to two inches long, and carrion, appa¬ 
rently parts of the blade-bone of an ox. We have never seen 
these birds with the other Vultures, but they seem to eat the 
same kind of food. This specimen appeared to be hunting for 
his food, flying about, and frequently alighting. 
4. Neophron pileatus (Burch.). Pileated Vulture. 
Eye small and dark brown; skin round the eye and neck 
flesh-colour ; legs dark. Not so shy as the large Vultures ; fre¬ 
quently alight on trees, which 1 have not seen the large Vultures 
do; feed on carrion. I have seen but few of them. 
5. Gyps fulvus (Gmel.). Fulvous Griffon Vulture. 
These birds are gregarious; they gather together in great 
numbers when any animal dies, to devour it, and will sail in 
company for a length of time; they are exceedingly wary and 
cunning, circling round and round in the air for hours before 
they alight, always reconnoitring the ground well. I have been 
told by a friend, that these birds, when a number are collected 
together, after having eaten the flesh from one side of a bullock, 
will all pull together and turn the carcase over, to eat the flesh 
from the other side. The Caffres say that, when short of food, 
these birds will eat the young shoots and leaves of grass; and 
there certainly were a few blades in the stomachs of the two 
specimens sent. Iris light brown. 
