318 
ON SAFARI 
BIRDS OF PREY 
Vultures 
Five species inhabit East Africa. Of these, two are small, 
Neophron-like ; while of the three larger species, one—the white- 
headed—is rarely met with. Thus, of the swarms of great 
carrion-vultures that promptly assemble at every kill, all belong 
to the two species first below named— 
1 . African Griffon— Pseudogyps africctnus. A huge bare¬ 
necked species, bigger and darker in colour than the 
European Griffon, but showing conspicuously great 
patches of white on its lower plumage. Swarms. 
2 . Eared, or Black Vulture— Otogyps auricularis . Much less 
numerous, though some may always be distinguished 
amidst the herd around a “ kill ” by their uniformly 
darker colour and by the great red lobes, or wattles, on 
their ears. 
3. Hooded, or White-headed Vulture— Lophogyps occipitalis. 
Rare, as stated above. 
[Note, that though I am here forced to use three separate 
generic titles for the same number of species—all great carrion- 
vultures, obviously belonging to a single family—I only do so 
under protest. I hold that such ultra-refinement of definition 
is not only unnecessary, but actually prejudicial to the general 
understanding of ornithology.] 
The two smaller East-African Vultures are clearly Neo¬ 
phrons; but the more abundant by far of the two differs essen¬ 
tially from the well-known Egyptian Vulture of Europe (N . perc- 
nopterus) in that its tail is short and square, instead of long and 
cuneate; also in that its plumage remains dark brown through¬ 
out life ; whereas in the other, the plumage—though dark during 
immaturity—becomes pure white with black wing-points when 
adult. In Africa, the square or cuneate tail vrill always serve to 
distinguish the two species, old or young. 
4 . White Egyptian Vulture— Neophron pcrcnopterus. Com¬ 
paratively scarce, though least so in mountain-regions. 
The only example actually handled—an adult, shot at 
