(a.) masculine noun (pl. ansur , nusūr , nisār ) denoting the vulture irrespective of species; the term is cognate with Akkadian nas̲h̲ru which is also encountered in the Hebrew nes̲h̲er (Turkish akbaba , Persian dāl , Berber tamādda ).

From the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, in the lands of Islam eight species of vulture are known, almost all of them resident and localised in mountainous regions and at the desert fringes. Four of these species are common there, and they are: (a) The Egyptian vulture ( Neophron percnopterus ); this is the oripelargus of Pliny which was formerly known as Catharte …