392 LAND-BIRDS. 



meal. He is either no glutton, or has an insatiable appetite, 

 for he is seldom or never seen gorged, but, when not eating, or 

 necessarily at rest, continues his active search. I do not know 

 what are the largest fish that he catches, but I have been as- 

 sured that one, which a bird dropped upon being frightened, 

 weighed fully six pounds. The Fish Hawks are very spirited, 

 and liave been known to wound seriously intruders upon their 

 nests, which, by the way, they are said by Wilson to repair in 

 autumn to withstand the winter. 



d. Their notes are various, being sometimes piercing 

 screams, but at other times a succession of agreeable whis- 

 tles.* 



§ 28. The American Vultures (CATHARTIDiE) have 

 the head chiefly naked, and the hind toe not on a level with 

 the others, which are slightly webbed. Two southern species, 

 the Turkey " Buzzard " ^^^ ( Cathartes aurci) and the Carrion 

 " Crow " (^Catharista atrata)^ have accidentally occurred in 

 Massachusetts once or twice.f The former is very dark ; 

 " head, red ; feet, flesh-colored ; bill, white . . . ; tail, rounded. 

 Length about 2^- feet ; extent, 6 ; wing, 2 ; tail, 1. U. S., from 

 Atlantic to Pacific, and somewhat northward ; abundant in 

 more southern portions ; resident as far north as New Jersey. 

 Nests on the ground, or near it, in hollow stumps and logs, 

 generally breeding in communities ; eggs, commonly two, 

 creamy white, blotched and sjDeckled, 2| X If." (Coues.) 

 The Carrion "• Crow," or Black Vulture, has the wings paler 

 beneath, and the hind-head feathered ; *' head, dusky ; bill and 

 feet, grayish yellow . . . ; tail, square. Smaller than auj'a, 

 in linear dimensions, but a heavier bird ; length about 2 feet, 

 wing, li ; tail, J. The difference in size and shape between 

 this species and awa is strikingly displayed when the birds 



* By my description of the Fish ists^ Guide, of Mr. Maynard, p. 137, 



Hawk's notes, I did not wish to im- 160th species. 



ply that those notes were ever mu- t There are now numerous records 



sical, but merely that they were not of the occurrence of the Turkey Buz- 



always harsh or piercing. [From the zard in southern New England, and 



Appendix (p. 444) of the original edi- several additional specimens of the 



tion.] Black Vulture have also been taken. 



125 See, for authority. The Natural- — W. B. 



