34 BIRDS OF PREY. 



they can elevate themselves to a prodigious height, ascending and 

 descending in wide spiral circles. Their sight, like that of the 

 Hawks ;iiid Eagles, is keen; and the organ of scent was improp- 

 erly supposed to be very perfect. They nest often amidst inaccessi- 

 ble rocks, laying l)ut two eggs, and bear in their ample craw nour- 

 ishment for their young, which they disgorge before them. They 

 moult once in the year : and difference of size alone distinguishes 

 the sexes in appearance. 



None of the Vultures, properly so called, exist out of the ancient 

 continent ; but the genus Cathartes, which comprehends our Vul- 

 tures, admits of geographical and natural sections, the transatlantic 

 species being still separable from those of America. 



1. CATHARTES. 



Is this genus the bill is long and straight, merely curved towards 

 the point ; the cere is naked and extending beyond the middle of 

 the beak ; the nostrils oval, naked and pervious ; and situated 

 about the centre of the bill : the tongue channeled, with the edges 

 serrated. — Head elongated, flattened, and wrinkled. The tarsus 

 or leg rather slender and naked ; the side toes equal, the mid* 

 die toe long and united to the exterior at its base ; the hind one 

 shortest. The first primary, or quill, rather short, the third long* 

 est. In the American section of the genus, the bill is rather 

 Stout J and the tail consists of 12 featliersx 



