498 PREYmG BIRDS — RAPTORES. 



repast. At such times they perch on decayed trees, with their head so 

 much retracted as to he with difficulty observed through tlie long loose 

 feathers of the collar ; the wings at the same time hang down over the 

 feet. This position they invarialily observe in dewy mornings, or after the 

 rains. Except after eating, or while protecting their nest, they are so 

 excessively wary, that the hunter can scarcely approach sufficiently near 

 even for bucksliot to take effect \ipon them, the fulness of the plumage 

 affording them a double chance of escaping uninjured. Their flight is slow, 

 steady, and particularly graceful ; gliding along with scarcely any apparent 

 motion of the wings, the tips of which are curved upwards in flying. Pre- 

 ceding hurricanes or thunder-storms, they appear most numerous and soar 

 the highest. The epulis are used by huntei's as tubes for tobacco-pipes." 



Dr. J. K. Townsend informed Audubon that " the California vidture in- 

 habits the region of the Columbia Eiver, to the distance of five hundred miles 

 from its mouth, and is most abundant in spring, at which season it feeds on 

 the dead salmon that are thrown upon the shores in great numbers." 



I never saw them north of the Columbia, nor near its mouth, and that river 

 may be considered as usually their northern limit. "It is also met with near 

 tlie Indian villages, being attracted by the oftal of the fish thrown around 

 their habitations. It associates with the Ccdhartcs aura, but is easily dis- 

 tinguished I'rom that species in flight, lioth by its greater size and the more 

 abrupt cur\-ature of the wing." To this I may add, by the large white 

 patch. " Indians, whose observations may generally be depended upon [!], 

 say that it ascertains the presence of food solely by its power of ^•ision." 



" In AA-alking they resemble a turkey, strutting over the ground with 

 gTcat dignity ; but this dignity is occasionally lost sight of, especially when 

 two are striving to reach a dead fish, which has just been cast upon the 

 shore ; the stately walk then degenerates into a clumsy sort of hopping 

 canter, which is anything but graceful. When about to rise, they always 

 hop or run for several yards, in order to give an impetus to their heavy 

 body ; in this respect resembling the condor of South America, whose well- 

 known lialiit enables it to be easily taken in a pen by the Spaniard." 



Hutchings's California ]\Iagazine for June, July, and August, 1859 (Vol. 

 lY. Xo. 3G - 38) contains a series of articles on this A'ultui-e by Alexander 

 S. Taylor, then of Monterey, and well known for his many interesting con- 

 tributions to the zoijlogy of this State, as well as its ethnology. 



]\Ir. Taylor calls it the " California condor," putting it in tlie genus 

 Sarcoramphus, on account of its great size, nearly equalling tliat of the 

 South American condor {S. grijplms). Size, however, is insufficient as a 

 generic distinction without other characters, in which our vulture agrees 

 closely with the Catliartcs, while it differs very much from Sarcoramplms, in 

 wanting the fl.esliy comli on the head. 



