The GOOSE VULTURES (_Gyps_) are recognisable by their elongated body and long, slender wings. The tail is of moderate length, and the tarsi low. The neck, which constitutes the peculiar characteristic of this group, resembles in its formation that of the Goose, and is covered with white downy hair or bristles. The beak is comparatively long and feeble. The plumage is composed of large feathers, and varies in its coloration, according to the age of the bird. The young are easily distinguished from their parents by the fact that the feathers which cover their bodies are long and narrow, and that their necks are enveloped in a streaming, ragged kind of frill. The members of this group are found throughout the whole of the Eastern Hemisphere. THE TAWNY GOOSE VULTURE. The TAWNY GOOSE VULTURE (_Gyps fulvus_), the only species inhabiting Europe, is about forty-one inches long, and ninety-nine broad; the wing measures twenty-six, and the tail eleven inches. Its plumage is almost entirely of a pale tawny colour, darker on the lower parts of the body than upon the back; the large wing-covers are surrounded by a broad white border, the tail-feathers and primary quills are black, the secondaries greyish brown, edged with reddish brown upon the outer web. The eye is light brown, the beak rust colour, and the feet light greyish brown. The plumage of the young is darker than that of the old birds, and the feathers upon their necks are long, brown, and narrow. This species is frequently met with in the southern countries of Europe, and occasionally appears in the more central provinces of that continent; it also frequents Egypt, Nubia, Algiers, and Morocco; but although it is sometimes seen around the Himalayas, it is replaced in the lowland districts of Hindostan by the _Gyps Indicus_ and _Gyps Bengalensis_, two very similar birds. THE SPARROW-HAWK GOOSE VULTURE.