Turkey- Vulture 163 



obtuse ; hind toe slightly elevated above the level of 

 the others. 



Genus CATHARTES. 



Characters of the family : tarsus long, naked and covered with 

 reticulated scales. 



Several species of Turkey -Vultures are recognized, but only one occiu-s 

 in the United States. 



Turkey-Vulture. Cathartes aura septentrionalis. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 325— Colorado Records— Allen 72, pp. 152, 159, 

 181 ; Tresz 81, p. 188 ; Drew 81, p. 141 ; 85, p. 17 ; Allen & Brewster 

 83, p. 197 ; Beckham 85, p. 143 ; Morrison 88, p. 139 ; 89, p. 7 ; Lowe 

 92, p. 101 ; 94 ; p. 267 ; Cooke 97, pp. 18, 73 ; Henderson 05, p. 235 ; 

 09, p. 229 ; Warren 06, p. 20 ; 08, p. 20 ; 09, p. 14 ; Gihnan 07, p. 154 ; 

 Markman 07, p. 156 ; Rockwell 08, p. 161 ; Hersey & Rockwell 09, 

 p. 116. 



Description. — Adult — Pliunage black throughout, glossy in parts, 

 and some of the feathers edged with dark brown ; wing and tail-feathers 

 ashy below ; iris brown, bill white, head and neck naked but for a few 

 bristles, crimson to pale carmine ; feet flesh-coloured. Length 27 ; 

 wing 20-0 ; tail 10-5 ; culmen with cere 2-0 ; tarsus 2-25. 



The female resembles the male, but is slightly smaller ; young birds 

 are darker than adults and have the bill and skin of head dark ; 

 nestUngs are covered with white down. 



Distribution. — From southern New England, Manitoba and British 

 Colimibia southwards to the Slexican border, where it merges with a 

 smaller subspecies found throughout Central America and the West 

 Indies. 



In Colorado the Turkey-Vulture is a fairly common summer resident, 

 both in the plains and moimtains up to 12,000 feet, at which elevation 

 it was noted by Morrison in La Plata co., and by Lowe in the Wet 

 Mountains. It is specially abundant, according to Rockwell, in the 

 Plateau Valley of Mesa co., where it arrives normally about April 15th, 

 though at a lower elevation at Grand Junction it has been seen as early 

 as March 18th and as lato as September 27th. To the east of the 

 mountains it arrives about the same time. Other locaUties are : Weld 

 CO. (Markman), Boulder co. (Henderson), Barr, not uncommon (Hersey 

 & Rockwell), El Paso and Fremont cos. (Aiken coll.), Baca, Las 

 Animas and Routt cos. (Warren) ; it appears to be generally distributed. 



Habits. — ^The Turkey-Vulture, more commonly known 

 as the " Buzzard " or " Turkey-Buzzard," is a carrion 



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