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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: KRO-LAP |
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LAMMERGEYER (Ger. Lammergeier, Lamm, lamb, and Geier, vulture) , or bearded vulture, the Falco barbatus of Linnaeus and the Gypaetus barbatus of modern ornithologists, one of the grandest birds-of-prey of the Palaearctic regioninhabiting lofty mountain chains from Portugal to the borders of China, though within historic times it has been exterminated in several of its ancient haunts. Its northern range in Europe does not seem to have extended farther than the southern frontier of Bavaria, or the neighbourhood of Salzburg; 1 but in Asia it formerly reached a higher latitude
In some external characters the lammergeyer is intermediate between the families Vulturidae and Falconidae, and the opinion of systematists has from time to time varied as to its proper position. It is now generally agreed, however, that it is more closely allied with the eagles than with the vultures, and the sub-family Gypaetinae of the Falconidae has been formed to contain ii.The whole length of the bird is from 43 to 46 in., of which, however, about 20 are due to the long cuneiform tail, while the pointed wings measure more than 30 in. from the carpal joint to the tip. The top of the head is white, bounded by black, which, beginning in stiff bristly feathers turned forwards over the base of the beak, proceeds on either side of the face in a well-defined band to the eye, where it bifurcates into two narrow stripes, of which the upper one passes above and beyond that feature till just in front of the scalp it suddenly turns upwards across the head and meets the corresponding stripe from the opposite side, enclosing the white forehead already mentioned, while the lower stripe extends beneath the eye about as far backwards and then suddenly stops. A tuft of black, bristly feathers projects beardlike from the base of the mandible, and gives the bird one of its commonest epithets in many languages. The rest of the head, the neck, throat and lower parts generally are clothed with lanceolate feathers of a pale tawny coloursometimes so pale as to be nearly white beneath; while the scapulars, back and wing-coverts generally, are of a glossy greyish-black, most of the feathers having a white shaft
bright scarlet, giving it an air of great
young
The lammergeyer breeds early in the year. The nest is of large size, built of sticks, lined with soft material and placed on a ledge of rocka spot being chosen, and often occupied for many years, which is nearly always difficult of access. Here in the month of February a single egg is usually laid. This is more than 3 in. in length by nearly 22 in breadth, of a pale but lively brownish-orange. The young
There is much discrepancy as to the ordinary food of the lammergeyer, some observers maintaining that it lives almost entirely on carrion, offal and even ordure; but there is no question of its frequently taking living prey, and it is reasonable to suppose that this bird, like so many others, is not everywhere uniform in its habits. Its name shows it to be the reputed enemy of shepherds, and it is in some measure owing to their hostility that it has been exterminated in so many parts of its European range. But the lammergeyer has also a great
1 See a paper by Dr Girtanner on this bird in Switzerland (Verhandl. St-Gall. naturw. Gesellschaft, 1869-1870, pp. 147-244).2 Among other crimes attributed to the species is that, according to Pliny (Hist. Nat. x. cap. 3), of having caused the death of the poet Aeschylus, by dropping a tortoise on his bald head! In the Hebrew Peres is rightly translated in the Authorized Version of the Bible (Lev. xi. 13; Deut. xiv. 12)a word corrupted into osprey, and applied to a bird which has no habit of the kind. The lammergeyer of north-eastern and south Africa is specific-ally distinct, and is known as Gypaetus meridionalis or G. nudipes. In habits it resembles the northern bird, from which it differs in little more than wanting the black stripe below the eye and having the lower part of the tarsus bare of feathers. It is the " golden eagle " of Bruce's Travels, and has been beautifully figured by Joseph Wolf in E. Riippell's Syst. Ubers. der Vogel Nord-Ost-Afrika's (Taf. I). (A. N.) End of Article: LAMMERGEYER (Ger. Lammergeier, Lamm, lamb, and Geier, vulture) If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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