OSSIFRAGE (
):
An unclean bird, mentioned in Lev. xi. 13 and Deut. xiv. 12; the Gypaetus barbatus, commonly known as the lammergeier (R. V. "gier-eagle"). It derives its name from its habit of breaking bones, its favorite food, by letting them fall from a great height upon the rocks. The "peres" is characterized in Ḥul. 62a as a bird which does not haunt the habitations of man.
Bibliography:
- Tristram, Nat. Hist. p. 170;
- Lewysohn, Z. T. p. 167.
