N eophron. Generic Characters.—Beak straight, slender, elongated, rounded
above, encircled at the base with a naked cere, which extends more than
half the length of the beak : upper mandible with straight edges, hooked at
the tip ; under mandible blunt, and shorter than the upper. Nostrils near the
middle of the beak, elongated, longitudinal. Head and neck partly bare of
feathers. Wings long, rather pointed; the third quill-feather the longest.
Legs of moderate strength and length ; tarsi reticulated ; feet with four toes,
three before, one behind; anterior toes united at the base. Tail-feathers
fourteen.
T h e B r i t i s h B ir d s in this History will be divided into
five principal orders, in accordance with the views of modern
systematic Ornithologists, more particularly those of this
country. The first of these orders, the R a p t o r e s , or Birds
of Prey, as they are usually called, includes three families,—
the Vultures, the Falcons, and the Owls; and although the
Vultures are more commonly confined to the warmer and
tropical countries of the Old and of the New World, the capture
in Somersetshire of a well-known species entitles it to
a notice in this work. Mr. Selby states that a specimen of
the Egyptian Vulture, now in the possession of the Rev.
A. Mathew, of Kilve in Somersetshire, was shot near that
place in October 1825. “ When first discovered it was
feeding upon the carcass of a dead sheep, and had so gorged
itself with the carrion as to be unable or unwilling to fly to
any great, distance at a time, and was therefore approached
without much difficulty and shot. Another bird, similar to
it in appearance, was seen at the same time upon wing at no
great distance, which remained in the neighbourhood a few
days, but could never be approached within range, and which
was supposed to be the mate of the one killed. The state
and colour of the plumage of this individual, judging from
the descriptions of M. Temminck and other authors, indicate
a young bird probably of the first, or, at the farthest,
of the second year.”
Vultures are most numerous in warm countries, where a
high degree of temperature induces rapid decomposition.
Their food is chiefly animal substance in a decaying state,
and their business in nature, as observed by Mr. Vigors, is
to clear away with rapidity those putrifying remains which,
if allowed to accumulate, might produce pestilence and
death. The same services rendered to man by numerous
Storks in the cities of India, and by troops of dogs in Constantinople,
are performed on a much more extended scale
by Vultures. So valuable are these services, that Vultures
are almost universally protected from molestation or injury
either by local legislation or by common consent. Great
powers of smell have been attributed to them ; and it appears
certain that they possess also extraordinary extent of vision.
Their flight is rather marked by a sustaining strength than
great rapidity; the latter quality being more particularly
required by those birds which pursue and prey on living
animals. The more straightened claws of the Vultures, unlike
those of the Falcons, do not enable them generally to
grasp and bear away the carrion to their young; but, more
or less restrained in these powers according to the species,
most of them devour their meal on the spot where they find
it, and conveying it away in their craw, disgorge it when
they arrive at their nest.
I t will be one of the objects of this History to trace our
British Birds throughout all the various countries in which
they are found, and thus to show, as far as has been yet
observed, the extent of the range of each species.
The Egyptian Vulture is included by Le Vaillant in his
Birds of Southern Africa. He found it occasionally at the
Cape, and still more numerous in the interior : it has also been
obtained by naturalists in the same localities up to the present
time. I t is there called by various names which signify White
Crow, the name referring to the adult bird. Le Vaillant
b 2