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