Cassell's book of birds; vol. 2

by Alfred Edmund Brehm

The MONK VULTURE (Neophron pileatus) resembles the bird last mentioned in several respects, but differs from it in many particulars; the beak being comparatively short and the wings broader; the tail projects in a straight line; the forehead and the back of the head and nape are covered with a short woolly growth of feathers; the bare portions of the face and throat are also larger than in the Scavenger Vulture; the apertures of the ears are well developed, indeed almost muscular, and the fore part of the throat is covered with wart-like excrescences. The plumage is of an uniform chocolate brown, while the soft feathers at the back of the head are grey. The beak is greyish blue, darkest at its tip; the foot pale grey, the cere light violet, the bare head and throat are blueish red. The young are recognisable by the comparative paleness of their tints, and the dark brown colour of the back of the neck, the smooth skin upon the throat, and their less conspicuous ears. The length of this species is twenty-six, its breadth sixty-six inches; the wing measures seventeen inches, and the tail nine and a half.

THE SCAVENGER, OR EGYPTIAN VULTURE (Percnopterus stercorarius or Neophron Percnopterus).

The Monk Vulture is met with throughout almost the whole of the African continent, but is especially numerous upon the banks of the Blue and White Nile and on the shores of the Red Sea. So common is it in Abyssinia and Massowah, that large parties are often seen perching about the roofs and trees, as the crows do with us, or picking up their food around the houses with the utmost confidence and fearlessness. Before the natives have left their huts in the morning, these active servants are at the door, ready to begin their task of cleansing, as soon as the family will allow them to enter and remove whatever filth may have accumulated. So extremely feeble is the beak of these birds, that they seem to be almost entirely dependent upon man for the means of subsistence; and those who have never visited tropical countries can scarcely imagine how ably and perseveringly they perform the work that has been assigned to them. The movements of the Monk Vultures are active, and their habits very social; even during the breeding season the parties do not separate, but form settlements upon such groups of suitable trees as are at some distance from the towns and villages. The nests are usually placed upon the higher branches, and do not exceed one foot in diameter; they are flat in shape, and formed of twigs very nicely woven together; the interior is so small as to be capable of containing but one nestling. The solitary egg is round, coarse-shelled, and usually of a greyish white, thickly sprinkled with yellow spots. Both parents assist in the work of incubation, the male bird relieving his mate during the mid-day hours. The young grow very slowly, and after leaving the nest, subsist, according to Heuglin, upon such food as they can pick up on the sea-shore or river banks.

THE URUBU, OR TURKEY BUZZARD.

The URUBU (Cathartes aura) is the first of the two species of American Vultures that we have selected from amongst the many varieties inhabiting the western continent, all of which, though differing somewhat in appearance, bear so close a resemblance to each other in their habits and mode of life that we shall content ourselves with speaking of them collectively. The Urubu or "Turkey Buzzard," as it is called in North America, is distinguished by its short thick beak, graduated tail, and low tarsi. The head and bare parts of the neck are of a flesh colour, deepest at the base of the beak, and become gradually paler towards the nape; the top of the head is violet. The skin upon the brow and nape hangs in thick folds, and that of the throat is overspread with orange-coloured warts; a few bristle-like feathers are scattered over the crown of the head and around the ears; the entire body, wings, and tail are brownish black, and gleam with a metallic lustre. The beak is pale red, and partially covered by the cere, in the upper part of which the large oval nostrils are situated; the eyes are bright red, and have a blueish grey circle around the pupil. The length of this species is about twenty-two and its breadth sixty-three inches; the wing measures nineteen inches and the tail ten and a half.

THE GALLINAZO.

The GALLINAZO (Coragyps atratus), as the second species is called, possesses a rather longer and thinner beak, comparatively high tarsi, and a shorter tail, which is straight at its extremity. The bare head and fore part of the throat are dark grey, deepening in some parts into black; the body, wings, and tail are pale black, shaded with reddish brown. The wing-feathers are white at their origin, the eyes dark brown, the beak blackish brown, whitish at the tip. The top of the head, from the base of the upper mandible to the nape, is covered with a regular succession of folds of skin, placed one behind the other. The length of this bird is twenty-three, its breadth fifty-two inches; the wing measures fifteen, and the tail about seven inches.

THE URUBU (Cathartes aura).