165 



NEOPHRON. NEOPHRON. 



Bill nearly as long as the head, straight, slender, slightly 

 compressed ; upper mandible covered to beyond the middle 

 with the cere, its dorsal line slightly declinate, a little convex 

 above the nostrils, at the end decurved, the ridge broad and 

 convex, the sides convex, the edges straight, toward the end 

 sharp, the tip decurved, thin-edged, and pointed ; lower man- 

 dible with the angle long and narrowed, the dorsal line con- 

 vex, the back rounded, the sides nearly erect, the tip obtuse, 

 with its edge-line decurved. 



Nostrils large, medial, oblong, nearer the ridge than the 

 margin. Eyes and auditory apertures of moderate size. Feet 

 rather short and stout ; tarsus roundish, with small angular 

 scales ; toes scutellate only toward the end, being covered with 

 transverse series of scales in the rest of their extent ; the first 

 toe very small, the third very long, the second shorter than the 

 fourth ; the anterior toes webbed at the base. Claws rather 

 long, arched, strong, moderately compressed, blunted. 



Fore part of head and throat without feathers, but having 

 scattered over them very small downy or bristly plumelets. 

 Plumage full and dense. Wings very long, ample, concave ; 

 primaries rather pointed, the third longest, the first short. Tail 

 of moderate length, much rounded, of fourteen feathers. 



This genus differs from Cathartes only in having the bill 

 more slender, the third quill longest in place of the fourth and 

 fifth, and the tail of fourteen instead of twelve feathers. Were 

 it not for geographical considerations, these differences would 

 not be of much importance. 



