258 DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 
a great height. It is only on leaving a rock that a few strokes are requisite to 
attain the necessary impulse, after which, with primaries bent upward by the force 
of the air, it performs its stately evolutions by soaring only. In alighting, the 
bird drops its legs some distance from the rock, and, sailing to within a few yards, 
it checks its velocity by two or three heavy strokes of the wings.” The griffon 
invariably nests on rocks, and in the south of Europe probably lays in February, 
ruppell’s vulture (I nat. size). 
as young ones are commonly found in most nests early in April. During incuba¬ 
tion one bird sits constantly, and, if driven off* immediately returns. The nest is 
an immense structure composed entirely of sticks; and it is common to find from 
two to six nests placed near together. In the case of the Himalayan species, at 
anyrate, but one egg is laid in each nest; the ground-colour being greyish white, 
upon which there may or may not be dark markings. In some cases the Himalayan 
griffon takes possession of the nest of an eagle, before its rightful owners have 
thought about breeding. Gifted with the power of undergoing long fasts, the 
