The VARIEGATED or CRESTED VULTURE (_Vultur occipitalis_) is an inhabitant
of Central Africa, and is now regarded as the type of a distinct group
(_Lophogyps_). In this bird the entire upper part of the body, breast,
and tail, are covered with black feathers, edged with brown; the region
of the crop, belly, feet, and secondary quills are pure white, the
primaries black. The crest is composed of white woolly down; the bare
neck is blueish white, and covered in front with from eight to ten lines
of small blackish warts; the eye is dark brown, the beak blackish blue at
its tip, and reddish brown at its base; the lower mandible and cere are
light blue; the feet pale purple, or reddish white. The plumage of the
young is of an uniform dark blackish brown colour, the eye is grey, the
beak red, and the foot white. This species of Crested Vulture inhabits
all the woodland districts of California, where it lives either alone
or in pairs, and though by no means shy, seldom ventures near towns
or villages. In its general habits it closely resembles its congeners
already described.
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The EARED VULTURES (_Otogyps_) may be regarded as by far the most
powerful members of this voracious family; they are easily recognised
by their large strong head and beak, large, broad, and slightly rounded
wings, comparatively short tail, long legs, and very peculiar plumage.
As respects the latter, only the upper part of the body resembles that of
other Vultures, the lower portion being covered with thick, long, greyish
down, interspersed with a few long, narrow, sabre-shaped feathers. The
legs are covered either with a similar, but longer and reddish yellow
down, or with small feathers of the usual description. The head, back
of the neck, and entire front of the throat are bare, and the chin is
overspread with hair-like feathers. A reddish brown of various shades
predominates in the coloration of the plumage; the quills and feathers
of the tail have a _dark_, and those of the large wing-covers a _light_
edge. Yellowish white feathers are often intermixed with those upon the
back and nape. The young are distinguished by the darker hue of their
plumage, and by the borders to the feathers on the lower part of the body
being broader than in the parent birds. The eye is dark brown, the beak
grey at its sides, deeper in shade upon the culmen and upon the lower
mandible; the feet are light grey, as are the bare parts of the neck:
the naked cheeks are violet. When the bird is excited these bare places
become bright red.
The Eared Vultures are found throughout Africa, and have occasionally
visited Europe. In Asia they are replaced by the Sukuni, or Bald Vulture
(_Otogyps calvus_). In their habits they are bold and social, and
everywhere frequent the vicinity of man, coming down into the villages
with the utmost confidence, in order to gather up the refuse thrown from
the slaughter-houses and dwellings. With such extraordinary eagerness and
voracity do these birds attack their prey, that (as Jerdon witnessed) a
party of Vultures devoured the body of a dead dog, and picked the bones
completely clean in the course of a few minutes. The toils of the day
completed, they go in search of water, and, after preening themselves,
lie down to roll in the sand and bask in the sunshine; this performance
over they retire to their sleeping-place in a tree, where they perch
bolt upright, with head drawn in, and tail hanging loosely down, until a
late hour in the following morning. So large an amount of rest do these
Vultures require, that they do not commence the duties of the day until
about ten o'clock, and seldom seek for food after about four or five in
the afternoon; and, so soundly do they sleep, that upon one occasion we
rode around the tree in which a large party was perched without arousing
them. A shot fired amongst them only had the effect of causing them to
rise drowsily into the air, and fly heavily to a distance of about five
hundred paces, when they again settled upon some branches to finish their
interrupted slumbers. The flight of these birds is very graceful, and
particularly quiet and easy. When about to descend they open their wings,
stretch out their feet, and reach the ground in a direct line, without
the slightest movement of their broad pinions. The nests are built close
to each other, upon a ledge of rock, and thus form a kind of settlement,
which is for the most part quite inaccessible, owing to the precipitous
nature of the locality usually selected; we have, however, made various
successful attempts to reach them with the help of a Hottentot guide, but
found the stench from the eyries intolerable, and the surrounding rock
perilously slippery, being, as it were, polished by constant friction.
The brood consists but of one white egg, which is laid about October:
the nestling, when first hatched, is covered with white down, and is not
fully fledged until the month of January. The Eared Vulture thrives in
captivity, and can easily be rendered very tame.
* * * * *
The RAVEN VULTURES (_Cathartæ_), a group of much smaller birds than those
above described, are recognisable by their long beaks, pointed wings, and
slender tarsi; their heads are either wholly or partially bare, and in
some species covered with warts. The members of this group, as their name
suggests, in many respects resemble the Ravens, and may be regarded as
replacing those birds throughout South America, whilst such as are found
in Africa and India associate freely with Crows, and lead a very similar
life. The nest is usually built upon rocks or trees, and the brood
consists of one, or at most of two eggs.
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The SCAVENGER or EGYPTIAN RAVEN VULTURE (_Percnopterus stercorarius_
or _Neophron Percnopterus_), by far the most celebrated bird of the
above group, was called by the ancient Egyptians "Pharaoh's Hen," and
was treated with a considerable amount of superstitious reverence. This
bird has been in all ages a favourite subject for the pencil of Eastern
artists, and even at the present day the Egyptians preserve some remnant
of the respect with which this remarkable species was formerly regarded.
It is distinguished from its congeners by its long, pointed wings, by its
graduated tail, which is of considerable length, and by the peculiarities
of its plumage. Its beak is slender, and more than half covered by the
cere; the upper mandible terminates in a long but feeble hook; the foot
is weak, and its middle toe almost as long as the tarsus; the talons
are of moderate size and but slightly curved. The third quill of the
wing exceeds the rest in length, the second is larger than the fourth,
and the sixth longer than the first. The exterior tail feathers are
only about two-thirds the length of those in the centre. The plumage is
extremely soft, and composed of large feathers, which become much longer
and broader upon the nape and upper part of the back. In colour this
species varies much, according to the age of the bird, but there is no
perceptible difference in this respect between the male and female. In
the coloration of the adults a dirty white predominates, which shades
into deep yellow on the throat and upper part of the breast, but becomes
somewhat purer in its tint on the back and belly; the primary quills are
black, the shoulder feathers grey, the colour of the eye varies from
reddish brown to light yellow; the bare portions of the head, warts upon
the throat, and upper part of beak are bright orange, the latter being
tipped with greyish blue; the skin of the neck is paler than that of the
head, and the wings are blueish red, or light greyish yellow. In young
birds, on the contrary, the shoulders, upper wing-covers, a stripe across
the middle of the breast and belly, the frill around the throat, the
neck, the rump, and tail-feathers are grey; the throat, breast, belly,
and quills of a blackish brown; the feathers on the top of the leg are
chequered grey and black; those at the side of the neck have brown shafts
and tips. The face, cere, and head are deep grey; the eye is dark brown,
the beak black, and the leg light grey. The body of the female is from
twenty-five to twenty-seven inches long; her breadth from sixty-one to
sixty-three inches; the wing measures eighteen inches and the tail nine
and a half. The Scavenger Vultures are frequently met with throughout all
the southern countries of Europe, and are very numerous in Western and
Southern Asia, and in all parts of Africa, with the exception perhaps of
the western coast. Such of these birds as are met with in Europe, migrate
to warmer regions, whilst those inhabiting Asia and Africa are stationary
throughout the year.
It would be impossible to over-estimate the immense services rendered
to man by the Scavenger Vultures, to whose appetite no kind of filth
or refuse comes amiss. They devour carrion freely, but this forms by
no means their principal subsistence; offal of all kinds they consume
with avidity, and were it not that Providence had assigned to these most
active birds the task of clearing away the garbage that the inhabitants
of tropical and of some European cities are too indolent to remove, fever
and pestilence would rage with unremitting fury. Many writers speak of
these invaluable benefactors to humanity in terms of strong disgust,
but for our own part we consider this by no means warrantable. Ugly
they certainly are, and the odours they spread around them somewhat of
the strongest; but there is such a thing as the _beauty of fitness_,
and, to our minds, this is possessed by the Scavenger Vultures in an
eminent degree, so exactly are they adapted to the part they have to
play in the economy of Nature. So totally are these birds destitute of
fear, that they not only approach, but enter the houses requiring their
ministrations, and we have frequently seen them busied in clearing away
the refuse strewn about the tents of the Arabs, or accompanying caravans
for a whole day in the hope of obtaining the scraps thrown away by the
travellers. Unlike many of its congeners, the Neophron does not usually
smear itself over with filth whilst eating; it even appears to exercise a
certain care in this particular, as it steps quietly about, feeding after
the manner of a Barn-door Fowl. When satiated it retires to a quiet tree
or rock, and there remains in a kind of indolent doze, while the work
of digestion is going on, a process which often occupies several hours.
When about to fly it springs from the ground with considerable force,
and, after a few sharp strokes of its wings, floats slowly and gracefully
through the air, without any further movement of its wings. This species
is very sociable, and flies about either in pairs or small parties, which
usually form a settlement during the breeding season, building their
nests as near to each other as possible, upon rocks, pagodas, tombs, or
similar situations. The nest is made of twigs and a variety of materials,
of which rags often form a part. The brood generally consists of two
long eggs of a yellowish white colour, spotted with yellowish or reddish
brown; we have seen them also marbled all over with deep crimson lines.
The young are covered with greyish down when first hatched, and are fed
with food regurgitated from the crop of the parent birds; many months
elapse before they are fully capable of providing for their own wants. If
trained while young, the Scavenger Vulture is as tractable as a Barn-door
Fowl, and will learn to follow its master about with the affection of a
dog. According to old Gesner, the gall of this species was regarded in
his time as an infallible remedy for many most dissimilar complaints.