134 SARCORHAMPHID. 
but in Antigua, Guatemala, they are said to use the ruins of old churches for that 
purpose. 
The flight and nesting-habits of this species differ considerably from those of Cathartes 
aura. The eggs are two, rarely three, in number, and rather larger and more sparingly 
marked than those of the latter species; the ground-colour is a pale grey-green. 
CATHARTES. 
Cathartes, Illiger, Prodr. p. 236 (1811). 
Rhinogryphus, Ridgway, Hist. N. Amer. Birds, iii. p. 837 (1874). 
(nops, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. i. p. 25 (1874) 
As we have pointed out above, the genus Cathartes is very similar to Catharista in 
appearance and structure, but differs in its longer and more pointed wings, which reach 
to the end of the tail, the latter being rounded. The primaries are longer and extend 
beyond the secondaries further than in Catharista. Mr. Ridgway (Man. N. Am. Birds, 
2nd ed. p. 219) also calls attention to the shape of the nostrils in the two genera, these 
in Cathartes being “small and narrow, occupying only the posterior half of the nasal 
fossee, with the anterior end pointed.” 
‘T'wo species are recognized, and the range of the genus extends over the greater 
part of North and South America. 
1. Cathartes aura. 
The Turkey Buzzard, Catesb. Nat. Hist. Carol. i. p. 6, t. 6°. 
Vultur aura, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 122°. 
Cathartes aura, Il. Prodr. p. 236°; Licht. Preis-Verz. Mex. Vég. p. 3‘ (cf. J. f. Orn. 1863, p- 58°); 
Scl. P. Z. 8. 1857, p. 211°; Moore, P. Z.S.1859, p. 517; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 213°; 
Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N.Y. viii. p.2°; Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 8303"; Dugés, La Nat. i. 
p- 138"; v. Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 370; Grayson, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. xiv. p. 267°; 
Nutting, Pr. U. 8. Nat. Mus. v. p. 405“; vi. p. 877"; Belding, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. vi. 
p. 344°; Herrera, La Nat. (2) i. pp. 17477, 319°; Salv. Ibis, 1889, p. 875°; 1890, p. 89°; 
Stone, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1890, pp. 204", 214”; Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. Birds, i. p. 161, 
t. 4. figs. 1,3; Cherrie, Auk, 1892, p. 328%; Richmond, Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. xvi. p. 522”; 
Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. N. H. v. p. 84°°; Chapman, Bull. Amer. Mus. N. H. viii. p. 287”; 
x. pp. 85%, 43%; Nelson, N. Amer. Faun. no. 14, p. 37°. 
(Enops aura, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. i. p. 25°; Boucard, P. Z. 8. 1878, p. 45°; Sumichrast, 
La Nat. v. p. 235 *. 
Rhynogryphus aura, Lawr. Bull. U. 8. Nat. Mus. no. 4. p. 44°‘; Salvad. Boll. Mus. Torino, xiv. 
no. 339, p. 10”. 
Niger, chalybeo vel purpureo nitens; alis brunnescentioribus, remigibus purpureo vel chalybeo-viridi lavatis, 
his infra griseis, rhachidibus albis vel pallide brunneis ; capite nudo, coccineo: rostro albo; iride griseo- 
brunnea. Long. tota circa 24-0, ale 18-8, caude 10-0, culm. (cum cera) 2:0, tarsi 2°3. (Deser. exempl. 
ad. ex Cozumel I., Yucatan. Mus. nostr.) 
