. Cuvier's animal kingdom : arranged according to its organization. Animals. 166 AVES. and the head, but not the neck, devoid of feathers. They are birds of moderate size, and in strength do not approach the Vultures properly so called ; hence they are even more addicted to carrion and aU sorts of filth, which attract them from afar. They do not even disdain to feed on excrement. Tlie White Neophron (;m,.,Lin.)-Little larger than a Raven: the adult male [and probably also the old female] .vhite, with black quill-feathers ; the female and young brown. [It :s common m Afnca and he countr
. Cuvier's animal kingdom : arranged according to its organization. Animals. 166 AVES. and the head, but not the neck, devoid of feathers. They are birds of moderate size, and in strength do not approach the Vultures properly so called ; hence they are even more addicted to carrion and aU sorts of filth, which attract them from afar. They do not even disdain to feed on excrement. Tlie White Neophron (;m,.,Lin.)-Little larger than a Raven: the adult male [and probably also the old female] .vhite, with black quill-feathers ; the female and young brown. [It :s common m Afnca and he countries bordering the Mediterranean ; rare in the north of Europe : has been once kiUed m England.] It fol- lows the caravans in the desert, to devour all that dies. The Urubu (F. jota, Ch. Bonap.), or Carrion Crow of the same sue and fonn as the preceding, but with a stouter bill, and the head entirely naked ; plumage wholly deep black It abounds n. the temperate and hot parts of America, [and is generaUy ranged in Cathartes. One or more additional true Neo- phrons, however, exist in Africa.] The Geiffins {Gyp'detos, Storr),— Placed by GmeUn in his genus Falco, approximate the Vultures rather in their habits and conformation : they have the eyes even with the head; the claws proportionaUy feeble ; wings half-extended when at rest ; the craw, when fuU, projecting at the bottom of the neck : but thehr head is completely covered with feathers ; [and they have only thirteen cervical vertebraB, which is one more than in any of the Falcons • the Neophrons and Galliuazos possessing fourteen, and the Condors and true Vultures fifteen. The sternum is proportionaUy short, and very broad.] Their distinctive characters consist in a very strong straight beak, hooked at the point, and inflated on the curve; nostrUs covered [owl-like] with stiff hairs directed forward; and a pencil of simUar hairs under the beak: their tarsi are short, and feathered to the toes ; and thei
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookpublishe, booksubjectanimals
