CONCERNING VULTURES 199 
found in America, being especially plentiful 
in the United States, where it is known as the 
carrion-crow; but the most remarkable of all 
is the American king-vulture, the naked skin 
of the male bird’s head and neck being decorated 
with various shades of orange, purple, and 
crimson, while the plumage is mostly of a 
creamy-fawn colour. Several large and fleshy 
wattle-like growths or caruncles are present 
upon the head in front of the eyes, but in the 
hen bird this curious form of decoration is 
reduced to a single upstanding wattle situated 
over the nostrils. 
The American king-vulture is by no means 
plentiful in its haunts. It is stated to be of a 
nervous and suspicious disposition, and its 
habit of sitting in the tree-tops where it gets 
an uninterrupted view over the surrounding 
country renders it a difficult bird to approach. 
Hailing from Africa is a remarkable bird 
known as the secretary bird. Although com¬ 
monly called a vulture, it differs in so many 
respects from the typical forms that it is placed 
by ornithologists as the sole representative of 
a distinct family. In external appearance the 
bird certainly has little in common with the 
vultures, for its legs are so long as to resemble 
those of a crane or stork. Its head and neck, 
moreover, are fully feathered, while a bunch 
