VULTUIIID.E — THE VULTURES — CATHARTES. 



503 



where animals are scarce, they very soon appear when a hxrge carcass has 

 been for a short time exposed. At Fort Mojave I saw none until March, 

 though they remain in considerable numbers in the middle parts of the State 

 during winter. Their lofty soaring and sharp sight enalile them to perceive 

 dead animals at a great distance, and, with the preceding species, they soon 



C. aura. 



gather around one from their airy watch-towers, in which they seem to the 

 eye no larger than swallows, while olijects on earth nnist appear to them 

 plamly perceptible. 



I saw numerous nests of this species on the cliffs near San Diego, lint did 

 not succeed in finding eggs or young in tliem, although I examined them 

 from January to I\Iay. Tlie eggs are said to lie yellowish-wliite, irregularly 

 blotched with lirown spots, and larger than those of a turkey. 



The black vulture {C. afratus, Bart.) has been several times reported as a 

 species found on the Pacific Coast, but no late collectors have oljt.uned or 

 seen it. The J'oung turkey-ljuzzard, which lias a Ijlack head, may ha\'e 

 been mistaken for it. 



