124 Nelson — Names of Certain North American Birds. 



be great enough to necessitate the recognition of two geographic 

 forms. This l)eing the case, we have Cathartes aura septentrioii- 

 alis (W'ied) for the large northern form ranging from the Britisli 

 possessions throughout the United States to northern Mexico. 

 The original name is restricted to the small bird of Mexico, 

 Central America, and the West Indies. The southern form 

 may be considered typical in the State of Vera Cruz, Mexico, 

 which is the region wlicre it was found liy Hernandez, upon 

 whose account Linnaais largely l)ased his original description. 



The Vera Cruz l)ird was again named in 1845 when Cassin 

 descril)ed Catltartes burroriaims from a specimen collected near 

 the city of Vera Cruz (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 

 1845, p. 212). This name has given rise to some difference of 

 opinion among ornithologists. P)y some it has properly been 

 considered as a small Cathartes aura. Others have treated it as 

 a distinct species. Fortunately Cassin 's type is extant and 

 through the courtesy of Mv. Witmer Stone of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of Philadelphia I have recently had the opxior- 

 tunity to examine it. 



A careful comparison of this type with a considerable series 

 of birds from the United States, Cuba, the Isle of Pines and 

 various parts of Mexico makes it evident that it is a typical 

 specimen of the small turkey buzzard which occurs throughout 

 southern Mexico, Central America and tlie West Indies. It is 

 in nearly fresh black plumage l)ut the upper side of the shafts 

 of the primaries are bleached old ivory white to within two or 

 three inches of the tips. The opening through the nostrils has 

 l)een distorted at the anterior end by a cord used to tie together 

 the mandibles of the fresh l)iril. This distortion of the nostril 

 from the same cause is shown in a number of other specimens 

 examined. The type of hiirniriaiins is a mounted bird with tbe 

 skin of the back of tlie neck distorted in such a way as to carry 

 the feathering higher up on the nape than normal and tluis 

 furnish one of the supposed characters of the species. 



Birds from Vera Cruz, Cuba, and the Isle of Pines are al)out 

 the same in size 1)ut the island liirds have heavier l)ills. Tbe 

 Jamaica bird is even smaller than the one in Cuba.. 



Birds from northern Mexico, including Lower California and 

 the entire southern border of the United States, are distinctly 

 larger than those from Vera Cruz and Cuba and there appears 



