greater distance, observes his neighbour’s movements, and
follows his course. A third, still further removed, follows
the flight of the second ; he is traced by another; and so a
perpetual succession is kept up as long as a morsel of food
remains over which to consort.
Mr. Osbert Salvin, also writing of this species in a part
of the Eastern Atlas, where it was very abundant, occupying
with its nests every available ledge in some extensive ranges
of rocks (Ibis, 1859, p. 179), says “ The eggs appear to
be laid in the month of February, as most of the nests contained
young in the beginning of April. During the time of
incubation, one of the parent birds sits constantly, and if
frightened off, returns immediately. The nest is composed
almost entirely of sticks, which are used in greater or less
abundance, as the situation requires. The eggs obtained from
wild birds generally show indications of natural colouring,
in addition to the blood and dirt with which they are usually
stained. This colouring is dispersed in faint spots of a
reddish hue, sometimes all over the egg, but generally at the
larger or smaller end.” He adds, that the young “ on
emerging from the egg is covered with white down; the
sides are dark.”
In Spain, Lord Lilford (Ibis, 1865, p. 168) mentions his
having seen on the banks of the Guadalquivir, below Seville,
a party of at least forty of these birds regaling upon a dead
horse. “ I have since,” he adds, “ met with this Vulture in
all parts of Spain which I have visited, in great abundance,
particularly in April, 1864, in the Sierra de la Palmitera,
near Marbella, where we were encamped for two days in
pursuit of Ibex.” More lately, Mr. Howard Saunders, writing
of the birds of Southern Spain, states (Ibis, 1871,
p. 56), “ This is the common Vulture of the country, breeding
in small colonies in every mountain-range. I t lays early in
March, as I found some young birds in the first week of
April. The eggs (usually one, but occasionally two) have
seldom any genuine marking; but I know of a colony of six
where the eggs are always somewhat spotted and streaked.”
Lack of space renders it impossible here to quote the
G 111 PFON-VU LTURE. 5
accounts given of this bird (if, indeed, it be the same
species) in countries further to the east, They have been
given in much detail by Mr. Allan Hume, Mr. Hudleston,
Mr. Charles Farman, and Messrs. H. J , Elwes and T. E.
Buckley. Canon Tristram has described (Ibis, 1865, p. 264)
two extensive colonies in the cliffs near Mount Carmel, and,
in his ‘ Natural History of the Bible,’ he states that there
can be no doubt of the identity of the Hebrew word Nesher
■—invariably rendered “ Eagle ” by the translators of our
accepted version—with the Arabic Nissr, the modern name of
this species of Vulture.
An egg of Gyps fulvus, taken by Mr. Philip Lutley Sclater,
the Secretary of the Zoological Society of London, at Kef
M’Satka, in the Eastern Atlas, in March, 1859, and given
by him to the Editor, measures 3-64 by 2‘82 i n . ; it is of
a pure white, with a few small markings of pale r e d ; but
more highly-coloured specimens are in other collections.
The following description was taken from a fine living
specimen in the garden of the Zoological Society. The beak,
from the curved point to the cere, is of a yellowish-white
horn-colour ; the cere itself bluish-black; the irides reddish-
orange ; the head, neck, and circular ruff of dull whitish
down ; the lanceolate feathers below the circular ruff, the
plumage of the upper surface of the body and the wing-coverts,
light yellowish-brown; the shaft of each feather of light
wood brown; the primaries and tail-feathers dark clove
brown ; the lower part of the neck in front, and the upper
part of the breast dull white, mixed with light brown; under
surface of the body reddish yellow-brown ; the smaller under
wing-coverts light brown; the large under wing-coverts
almost white ; the legs and toes lead colour; the claws black;
the anterior portion of each toe covered with six large scales,
the remaining portion and the legs reticulated.
A specimen, sent to the Zoological Society by Sir Thomas
Eeade, from Tunis, measured, from the point of the beak to
the end of the tail, three feet eight inches ; from the anterior
bend of the wing to the end of the longest quill, twenty-
seven inches ; the middle toe and claw five inches.