VULTURES. 
251 
As in the preceding family, the nostrils are separated by a median partition, and 
the feathers are furnished with after-shafts. The true vultures, together with the 
lammergeiers, are restricted to the warmer regions of the Old World, where they 
are almost universally distributed, although absent from the Malayan Islands, 
Ceylon, Madagascar, and Australia. 
The magnificent bird known as the lammergeier, or bearded 
Lammergeiers. 0 . 
vulture (Gypaetus barbcitus), is the typical representative of a genus 
in regard to the systematic position of which there has been some difference of 
opinion among ornithologists. It differs from the true vultures in having the 
head covered with feathers, instead of being naked or downy, and thereby 
approaches the eagles, among which it is placed by Dr. Sharpe. Its general 
affinities, as remarked by Mr. Dresser, are, however, decidedly with the vultures, 
among which we accordingly place it. In addition to having the head fully 
feathered, the lammergeiers are characterised by having the oval nostrils concealed 
by a number of stiff bristles, and also by the presence of a tuft, or long beard 
of forwardly directed bristles. The long and compressed beak ascends in front 
of the cere, and then curves, with its tip much hooked. The wings are long, with 
the first quill rather longer than the second, and the third the longest; while the 
tail is also long, and distinctly wedge-shaped. The true lammergeier, which ranges 
from the mountains of Southern Europe and North-Eastern Africa through Asia 
Minor and Palestine, and thence to the Himalaya, Central Asia, and the north of 
China, is distinguished by the metatarsus being feathered down to the toes, and 
the presence of black markings on the cheeks, and commonly attains a length of 
about 42 inches. On the other hand, the somewhat smaller bare-legged lammer¬ 
geier, from the mountainous districts of North-East and South Africa, has the 
lower part of the metatarsus naked, and the sides of the cheeks entirely white. 
In the adult of the common species, the crown of the head and sides of the face 
are white, with the bristles over the nostrils and a broad cheek-stripe, as well 
as some scattered streaks, black; the rest of the head and nape being whitish, with 
the lanceolate feathers of the latter more or less tinged with bright tawny. The 
upper-parts are black, tending to brown on the rump, and a tinge of ochre-brown 
on the scapulars, with all the shafts of the back-feathers whitish, as are those of 
the wing-coverts, wings, and tail. Beneath, the general colour is a rich orange 
tawny, not unfrequently with a black gorget on the chest. The beak is horn- 
colour, and the feet leaden grey, while the iris of the eye is pale orange, and the 
surrounding sclerotic membrane or “ white/' a blood-colour, thus producing, with 
the black pupil, a most remarkable appearance. In the young bird, as shown in 
the upper figure of our illustration on the next page, the head, neck, and throat are 
blackish brown, and the rest of the body-plumage pale brown, with the exception 
of some creamy white patches on the upper part of the back. The female is some¬ 
what larger than the male; and the expanse of wing often exceeds 9 feet. Indian 
examples are those which commonly show the black gorget on the chest. 
The lammergeier is essentially a mountain-bird, and, in spite of numerous 
stories to the contrary, appears to subsist mainly on animals not killed by 
itself and carrion, although it may occasionally attack and kill some of the 
smaller animals; such at least are undoubtedly its habits in the Himalaya. 
