NOTES ON GUAiTEMALAN BIRDS^ — WETMOIRE 531 



or trees around the azotea of the Casa Popenoe, but they disappeared 

 at dusk. One day at noon, after the heavy air blanket of early 

 inorning had been warmed and the sun suddenly appeared black vul- 

 tures flapped heavily over the houses until on the wing and then 

 began to soar steadily upward. Several dozen remained high in 

 the air during the entire afternoon. On clear days they were con- 

 stantly overhead. I noted them in the town of Santa Maria de 

 Jesus on October 31 and found them common at Duenas, where they 

 ranged on clear days to an elevation of 7,200 feet on Volcan de Aca- 

 lenango. At Ciudad Vieja three remained daily on guard over a 

 (lead dog by the roadside from November 3 to 5, and one still stood 

 by to strip what it could from the bones and hide when I passed on 

 November 8. Zopilotes were seen in numbers at Panajachel, soar- 

 ing high overhead on clear days. Here on November 12 I found 

 half a dozen in a coffee finca where there were large trees loaded 

 w ith ripening avocados. From time to time these fruits were loos- 

 ened by the wind and fell to the ground to burst with a loud pop, 

 \vhen one of the vultures w^ould descend to feed on the soft pulp. I 

 saw another group of vultures watching for falling avocados on the 

 following day, and I was told that this was regular custom with 

 them. It is the first time I ever observed them taking vegetable 

 food. 



At Chichivac, above Tecpam, numbers were noted on Novem- 

 ber 26 soaring overhead. The birds were seen regularly here in 

 the sky, but were reported not to nest at this elevation. The high- 

 est seen were four observed in the sky above Sierra Santa Elena on 

 November 23. The birds were said to appear here from the low- 

 lands only during their aerial evolutions. 



Zopilotes in many localities were very tame and merely moved 

 aside to let me pass and showed the same disregard for automobiles. 

 At the Zoological Garden in Aurora Park in Guatemala City a 

 dozen fearlessly invaded the cage of a sleeping European brown 

 bear in search of food. 



CATHARTES AURA AURA Linnaeus 



Vnltur Aura Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 86 (Veracruz, 

 Mexico). 

 The turkey vulture, often called the viuda, was widely distributed 

 over the plateau region, though outnumbered by the black vulture 

 at least two to one. I saw them regularly soaring over the slopes of 

 Volcan de Acatenango near Canderas and above Duenas on the 

 lower slopes of Volcan de Agua above Santa Maria de Jesus, and 

 near the base of Volcan de Fuego below Alotenango. At Panajachel 

 they were seen daily near the lake, and above Tecpam I recorded 



270405 — 41 2 



