1895.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 477 



man to Kingston, about a half mile from the former town, to see a 

 Ground Dove stepping along only fifty feet ahead of me. It flew 

 kito a tree by the roadside, and as I approached, flew away entirely 

 out of sight. 



The small size and square cut tail, to say nothing of its color, so 

 positively showed it to be this species that I have little hesitation in 

 including it here. Had I not formerly made the acquaintance of 

 this bird in Florida, and become aware of its having been taken in 

 the District of Columbia and at Locke, Michigan, this occurrence 

 would have been passed over as a case of mistaken identity. There 

 is no probability that the Ground Dove is more than a straggler 

 across the eastern confines of the Appalachian system at this latitude. 

 It is more probable this bird came directly north from Georgia or 

 Alabama than from the Carolinas, and its casual occurrence in 

 Southwestern Tennessee would be far less extraordinary than the 

 one just recorded. 



Order RAPTORES. 



Family CATHARTIDJE. 

 Genus CATHARTES Illiger. 



65. Cathartes aura (L.). Turkey Vulture. 



I saw this useful and conspicuous bird wherever I remained long 

 enough to make any records. It was seen above Roan Mountain. 

 They breed in great numbers along the east escarpment of the 

 Cumberland Plateau. 



Genus CATHARISTA Vieillot. 



66. Cathari3ta atrata (Bartr.) Black Vulture. 



The abundance of this species all over the State was a surprise to 

 me. It was not found, however, east of the Tennessee Valley, but 

 was observed at nearly every other station. It was nearly always 

 in company with the Turkey Vulture m the proportion of one atrata 

 to three nura, and they were evidently nesting together along the 

 rocky clifls east of Sawyer's Springs which overlook the wide valley 

 of East Tennessee. Fox records them in flocks in Roane County. 

 Monroe County, " breeds," Lemoyne. " Breeds in the Forked Deer 

 bottom, 10 miles N. E. of" Brownsville, B. C. Miles. Lookout 

 Mountain, " breeds," Fox. 



