This is one of the largest species of the birds of prey found in the Old World, being exceeded in size only by the Great Condor of the Andes. It is an inhabitant of Africa, being plentifully spread over the southern portion of the Continent, and also occurring in North-Eastern Africa, whence it ranges in small numbers to Lower Nubia and the Sahara, and has even been said to occur accidentally in Europe. It has received the name of Eared Vulture on account of the folds of skin on the sides of the neck, which are found only in one other species, the Indian Vulture (O. calvus). These two kinds of Eared Vultures appear to play the part of the King Vulture of South America, the smaller Vultures, such as the Neophrons, always giving place to them, and allowing them to finish their feast before venturing to approach.
EGYPTIAN VULTURE.
The Egyptian Vulture (Neophron[160] percnopterus[161]) is also familiarly known as Pharaoh’s Chicken. It is a small bird about two feet and a half in length, white in plumage, with black wings. A great part of the face is bare and of a yellow colour. The young birds are brown. In Europe the Egyptian Vulture is a migratory bird, but it breeds in many localities in the Mediterranean region, and has even occurred once or twice on the shores of the British islands. In winter it takes itself to the Cape of Good Hope. It is much valued in certain places as a scavenger, as it devours excrementary matter, but Mr. Gurney states that its food also consists of carrion of various descriptions, and in default of such food it occasionally preys upon rats, field mice, small lizards, snakes, insects, and even earthworms. Colonel Irby observes that it is probably the foulest-feeding bird that lives, and that it is very omnivorous, devouring any animal substance, even all sorts of excrement; nothing comes amiss to it, and he has sometimes seen them feeding on the sea-shore on dead fish thrown up by the tide. The same gentleman[162] says that on their migrations they pass Gibraltar, which is one of their lines of passage, about the end of February, and they breed in the neighbourhood of that place, beginning to lay about the 1st of April. The nest is composed of a few dead sticks, always lined with wool, rags, or rubbish; and Colonel Irby states that he found about a pound of tow in one nest, and the sleeve of an old coat; while another observer says that on a foundation of branches Pharaoh’s Hen heaps rags, patches, old slippers, and whole basketfuls of camels’ hair and wool for the comfort of its offspring. The Egyptians frequently represented this species on their monuments, but do not appear to have attached any particular significance to it.
CONDOR.
In India the place of the present species is taken by the Indian Scavenger Vulture (Neophron ginginianus), and in Africa the Pileated Vulture (N. pileatus), an entirely brown bird, occurs nearly all over the continent.
THE SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE VULTURIDÆ.—THE AMERICAN VULTURES (Sarcorhamphinæ).
THE CONDOR (Sarcorhamphus[163] gryphus[164]).
As before mentioned, all the American Vultures can be readily distinguished by the perforation of their nostrils. The Condor is a very unmistakable species, being the largest of all the Vultures, and the male has a large comb on the head which is not developed in the female. The hind toe also is extremely small, scarcely touching the earth, and on this account the foot is less prehensile than in any other Vulture. The home of this magnificent bird is the chain of the Andes in South America, and the neighbouring countries to the west, and it is found inhabiting these mountains from Ecuador and Colombia, down to the Strait of Magellan, and again extending on the east coast as far as the mouth of the Rio Negro in Patagonia. It bears confinement well, examples being generally to be seen living in the Zoological Gardens; and some idea of the extent of wing in the Condor can occasionally be obtained when the birds are sunning themselves on their perch. The expanse in large individuals is said to reach as much as eight or nine feet. All observers agree that when seen in a wild state the flight of the Condor is truly majestic, and it is capable of ascending to an immense height, at which a man could not breathe on account of the rarefaction of the air, a state of things which does not seem to affect the Condor, who is often lost to sight amidst the clouds. The most exaggerated stories of the strength and prowess of this Vulture were circulated by the old authors, and it was even said to attack full-grown oxen. The careful observations, however, of recent travellers, have dispelled many of the fabulous stories respecting it, and it is now a well ascertained fact that the Condor does not attack full-grown animals of any size, but will devour newly-born and helpless offspring, and several of them will unite to kill the mother should she appear in a weak and sickly condition. The supposed habit, attributed to these birds, of carrying off prey in their feet, is disproved by the weakness of the last-named organs, and their utter incapacity for grasping anything: in fact the feet play a very insignificant part in the bird’s economy, the powerful bill being the chief factor in tearing a carcase to pieces. The Condor measures about three feet and a half in length, the closed wing being about twenty-nine inches. The general colour of the bird is black, the secondary quills and most of the wing-coverts being externally grey. Round the neck is a ruff of soft white down. The bare parts of the head and neck are not remarkable for any bright colour, but are blackish with traces of livid flesh colour here and there. That the Condor lays sometimes in confinement is shown by a specimen in the British Museum, which was hatched by a common hen, who sat on the egg for six weeks and two days. The nestlings are usually covered with white down.