18 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The nest contained eggs on April 15 and April 30, and the young 

 were hatched but still very small and helpless when the nest was 

 next visited, on May 21 ; they were probably not over three or four 

 days old; they were unable to hold up their heads and were com- 

 pletely covered with white down, except on the black face. On 

 June 4, the young were still covered with down, except that the 

 primary quills were beginning to show, the sheaths protruding about 

 three-quarters of an inch and tipped with down; they were now 

 about 17 daj^s old and about three times as large as they were on 

 May 21. Wlien about 37 days old, on June 24, the young were still 

 covered with down, but "the primaries and secondaries and their 

 coverts were about 4 inches long, and the tail feathers were about 3 

 inches long." On July 4, when about 47 days old, "the birds were 

 about two-thirds grown. The wing feathers were well developed, 

 though still growing, and the tail feathers 3l^ inches long. The 

 rest of the body was still covered with down, which came off easily." 

 When about 60 days old, on July 17, the wings appeared to be quite 

 fully developed, the back was well feathered, and the plumage was 

 coming in on the sides of the breast, but the neck and the remainder 

 of the under parts were still downy. Mr. Tyrrell made his last 

 visit to the nest on July 25, when the young birds were about 68 

 days old. "Both were well feathered, with down only about the 

 breast and belly, and, in one, some still clinging to some of the 

 feathers of the neck, looking like a ruffled collar." 



Apparently the juvenal plumage is not fully assumed, or the 

 flight stage reached, until the young vulture is well over 10 weeks 

 old. 



The juvenal plumage is much like that of the adult, but with 

 lighter edgings on the feathers of the mantle; the plumage is said 

 to be darker when fresh, but it fades out to dull brown, "Verona 

 brown" to "warm sepia." The naked skin of the head and neck is 

 blackish or livid brown, not red as in the adult; and the neck and 

 crown of the head are scantily covered with short, dark brown, hairy 

 down. This plumage is worn through the first winter. The annual 

 molt of both young birds and adults begins late in winter or early 

 in spring and continues gradually through the summer and early 

 fall, the wings and tail being molted in September and October. 

 The new body plumage, which appears first on the breast, neck, 

 and back, is glossy, bluish black at first, but fades out later to dull, 

 dark brown.] 



Food. — The inability of the vulture to kill its prey has forced it 

 to play the part of a scavenger, and the struggle for existence has 

 driven it further. Where the bird is abundant, it cannot, like other 

 Raptores, select its victim; it has to accept what chance presents. 



