Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/326

Rh 302 V Y A V Y A the ordinary diurnal Birds-of-Prey as Gypaetidae. This arrangement seems to overlook the signification of some considerable distinctions, and to the present writer it would appear more reasonable to recognize the existence of a Family Vulturidx, confined to the true Vultures of the Ancient Continent, equal in rank to the Falconidse, while fully admitting the claim made on behalf of the New-World forms for the same standing. The American Vulture may be said to include four genera : (1) Sarcorhcnnphus, the gigantic Condor, the male distinguished by a large fleshy comb and wattles; (2) Gypagus, the King- Vulture, with its gaudily-coloured head and nasal caruncle ; (3) Catharista, containing the so-called Turkey- Buzzard of English-speaking Americans with its allies ; and (4) Pseudogryphus, the great California!! Vulture of very limited range on the western slopes of North America, and threatened with speedy extinction through the use of poison. Though all these birds are structurally so different from the true Vultures of the Old World, in habits the Vulturidse, and SarcorhamphidsB are much alike, and of several of the latter King- Vulture (Oypagus papa&quot;]. particularly of the Condor and the Turkey-Buzzard we possess rather elaborate accounts by excellent observers, as Darwin, Alex ander Wilson, and Mr Gosse whose works are readily accessible. The true Vultures of the Old World, Vulturidee in the restricted sense, are generally divided into five or six genera, of which Neophron has been not unjustifiably separated as forming a dis tinct Subfamily, Ncophroninse, its members, of comparatively small size, differing both in structure and habit considerably from the rest. One of them is the so-called Egyptian Vulture or Pharaoh s Hen, N. percnopterus, a bird whose delicacy of build and appearance contrast forcibly with its choice of the most filthy kind of food. It is a well-known species in some parts of India, 1 and thence westward to Africa, where it has an extensive range. It also occurs on the northern shores of the Mediterranean, and on three occasions has strayed to such a distance from its usual haunts as to have twice suffered capture in England, and once even in Norway. Of the genera composing the other Subfamily, Vulturinse, space is wanting to say much. Gyps numbers seven or eight local species and races, on more than one of which the English name Griffon has been fastened. The best known is G. fulvus, which by some authors is accounted &quot; British,&quot; from an example having been taken in Ireland, though under circumstances which suggest its appear ance so far from its nearest home in Spain to be due to man s inter vention. The species, however, has a wider distribution on the European continent (especially towards the north-east) than the Egyptian Vulture, and in Africa nearly reaches the Equator, extend ing also in Asia to the Himalaya; but both in the Ethiopian and Indian Regions its range inosculates with that of several allied lorms or species. Pseudogyps with two forms one Indian, the 1 In the eastern part of the Indian peninsula it is replaced by a smaller race or (according to some authorities) species, N. ffingianus, which has a yellow instead of a black bill. other African differs from Gyps by having 12 instead of 14 rectrices. Of the genera Otogyps and Lophogyps nothing here need be said ; and then we have Vultur, with, as mentioned before, its sole representative, V. monachus, commonly known as the Cinereous Vulture, a bird which is found from the Straits of Gibraltar to the sea-coast of China. 2 Almost all these birds inhabit rocky cliffs, on the ledges of which they build their nests. The question whether Vultures in their search for food are guided by sight of the object or by its scent has long excited much interest, and the advocates of either opinion have warmly contended in its behalf. Without denying to them the olfactory faculty, it seems to be now gene rally admitted, notwithstanding the assertions to the con trary of Waterton and a few more, that the sense of sight is in almost every case sufficient to account for the observed facts. It is known that, directly a camel or other beast of burden drops dead, as the caravan to which it belonged is making its way across the desert, Vultures of one sort or another appear, often in considerable numbers, though none had before been observed by the ordinary traveller, and speedily devour the carcase over which they are gathered together. The mode in which communication is effected between the birds, which are soaring at an immense height, seems at first inexplicable, but Canon Tristram has suggested (Ibis, 1859, p. 280) the following simple solution of the supposed mystery : &quot;The Griffon who first descries his quarry descends from his elevation at once. Another, sweeping the horizon at a still greater distance, observes his neighbour s movements and follows his course. A third, still further removed, follows the flight of the second ; he is traced by another ; and so a perpetual succession is kept up so long as a morsel of flesh remains over which to consort. I can conceive no other mode of accounting for the number of Vultures which in the course of a few hours will gather over a carcase, when previously the horizon might have been scanned in vain for more than one, or at the most two, in sight.&quot; The Canon goes on to suppose that in this way may be explained the enormous congregation of Vultures in the Crimea during the siege of Sevastopol, where they had before been scarce : &quot; the habit of watching the movements of their neighbours&quot; may &quot;have collected the whole race from the Caucasus and Asia Minor &quot; he might have added the Balkans &quot; to enjoy so unwonted an abundance.&quot; Doubt may be entertained whether the last supposition be correct, but none as to the accuracy of the first. (A. N.) VYATKA, or VIATKA, a government of north-eastern Russia, with Vologda on the N., Perm on the E., Ufa and Kazan on the S., and Nijni Novgorod and Kostroma on the W., has an area of 59,124 square miles. It has on its northern boundary the flat water-parting which separates the basins of the Northern Dwina and Volga, and its surface is an undulating plateau of from 800 to 1400 feet above sea- level, deeply grooved by rivers and assuming a hilly aspect on their banks, broken up as they are by ravines. Permian sandstones, marls, and limestones cover it ; over these is boulder clay, with extensive forests and marshes. The Kama rises in the north-east, and, after making a wide sweep through Perm, flows along its south-eastern boundary, while the whole of the government is watered by the Vyatka and its numerous tributaries. Both the Kama and the Vyatka are navigable, as also are several of their tributaries; the Izha and Votka, which flow into the latter, have important iron-works on their banks. As many as 1,700,000 cwts. of corn, iron, hides, leather, tallow, timber, and wooden wares were loaded in 1883 at the landing- places of Vyatka, while the traffic on the Kama is still more important. There are no railways, but the province is traversed by the great highway to Siberia, and two other roads by which goods from the south are transported to 3 The geographical range of the various species of Vultures has been exhaustively treated by Mr Sharpe (Journ. Linn. Society, Zoology, xiii. pp. 1-26, pis. i.-ix. ).