162 ZOOLOGICA AFRICANA VOL 13

A WHITE-BACKED AT A number for G. afr;~anus. Among a total of 100 G. ~oprotheres of all ages, all had fourteen rectrices CAPE VULTURE COLONY which is normal for the large (Brown & Amadon 1968). The feathers were pointed at their tips which J P MUNDY showed the to be in its first year, and it doubt­ Endangered Wildlife Trust. c/o 302 Fairlawn less fledged at the end of 1976. The state of the Road. Mondeor. Johannesburg 2091. carcass suggested that the bird had died about two months earlier, at a time which is the height of the Accepted: February 1978 breeding season for G. coprotheres. The nearest known breeding site of white-backed vultures is in Although nestlings of the Cape Gyps the Warmbaths area, a distance of about 125 km to roprotheres have been ringed at colonies in the the north-east (A C K.emp pers. comm.), although Magaliesberg mountains, Transvaal, since 1950 it of course this individual could have come from is only since May 1973 that the foot of the cliffs has fu~her afield. In ma~y hourS of vuIture-watching at been regularly and thoroughly searched. In this thiS and other colonies of Cape vultures, no white­ way, many rings have been recovered, and a couple bac~ed vulture has ever been seen, though the two of hundred carcasses of nestling and fledged Cape Species can often be seen together at carcasses, and vultures examined. In September 1977, under the perched on pylons around the Magaliesberg, else­ two main colonies in the Magaliesberg, a total of 64 where in the Transvaal, and in the northern Cape. It carcasses was found, of which 35 were fledged . should be emphasized that Cape vultures are obli­ This total in itself was unusually high, and more­ gate cliff nesters, as white-backed vultures are obli­ over some birds showed signs of having been shot gate tree nesters (pcrs. obs.). Cape vultures will, (Ledger & Mundy in prep.). However, in addition however, roost for the night on trees and pylons but to these, one carcass of a white-backed vulture G. the present instance is apparently the flr5t reco;d of afri~anus was found at the foot of the west face of a white-backed vulture roosting on a cliff. The Cape

yulture is declining in numbers, but the population . 0

) the c~lony at Roberts' Farm (25 51' S/27° 18' E).

0 In the Magaliesberg mountains, and the Transvaal

1 As with so many of the carcasses, this one had been

0 gene!aJ.'y, appears sta~le (Ledger & Mundy 1976),

2 scavenged, presumably by a porcupine, and only and It IS therefore unhkely that the white-backed d one wing, the head, and the tail remained (intact, so e t vultu.re is extending its range or niche in this a the carcass had not been scavenged in the veld by a d Province. The presence of a young afr;canus at a (

Cape vulture and brought to the colony to feed its r ~oprotheres breeding colony is thus a mystery and e chick). Because this find was unique, the remnants h completely out of character. s i were examined in detail (and photographed) so as l I thank the Project Fund of the South African b to make absolutely certain of the specific identifi­ u Ornithological Society for supporting the work on P

cation. e Cape vultures, Clive Slater for help in the field at

h The contour feathers were dark brown in colour t

that time, and Tom Choate and an anonymous

y and were narrowly and longitudinally streaked with b referee for commenting on the manuscript. white; contour feathers ofimmature G. coprotheres d e

t are slate-grey in colour and broadly streaked. The

n REFERENCES

a length of the wing was 626 mm. The mean wing r g length (with range in brackets) of 17 immature G. BROWN, L .t. AMADON, D 1968. EDgles. e c ~oprotheres was 701 mm (655-730 mm), and of 16 hawks and fa/~ons of the world. Feltham: n e immature G. afri~anus captured near K.imberley Country Life. c i l 0 (28 3~' S/24° 50' E) was 621 mm (590-650 mm). LEDGER, J & MUNDY. P 1976. Cape vulture r e The tall had twelve rectrices which is the proper research in 1975. Bokmalcierie 28: 4-8. d n u y a w e t a G t e n i b a S y b d e c u d o r p e R