24 SMITHSONIAN MISCEI.I.ANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 85 



sylvania this measurement ranges from 12.2 to 13. i mm. with an 

 average of 12.6 mm. The fossil bone in form is exactly like the 

 modern aura. 



The existence of remains of two evidently distinct races of the 

 turkey vulture in the Pleistocene deposits of Florida, of which one is 

 now northern and the other southern in range is puzzling. Since the 

 two forms are found in different deposits, scptcntrionalis coming 

 from Vero and Melbourne on the east coast and Lecanto in the central 

 part of the state, and aura from near St. Petersburg, if it is assumed 

 that the record of aura is not due to a stray individual out of its 

 normal range, it seems probable that the bone deposits in question 

 were formed at different periods during the Ice Age. 



CATHARTES AURA SEPTENTRIONALIS Wied 



Turkey vulture 

 Cathartcs scptcntrionalis Wied, Reis. Nord-Amer., vol. i, 1839, p. 162. 



The distal part of a left ulna obtained near Melbourne by C. P. 

 Singleton in 1928 for the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and a 

 fragment of a left metacarpal collected by W. W. Holmes in Saber- 

 tooth Cave at Lecanto, Florida, are similar in size to the turkey 

 vulture found today in Florida. Shufeldt ' has reported this bird from 

 Vero, Florida, and from his figured specimen it is evident that the 

 large northern bird was, the one represented. 



This form ranges today throughout the greater part of the United 

 States, being absent only in the north, and has had extended range for 

 a long period of time, since it is known from the Pleistocene deposits 

 of California. 



CORAGYPS URUBU (Vieillot) 



Black vulture 



J 'lilt III- untbii Vieillot, Ois. Amer. Sept., vol. I, 1807, p. 23, pi. 2. 



Numerous fragments of bone from the Seminole Field include 

 parts of metatarsus, tibio-tarsus, coracoid, humerus, and metacarpal, 

 while from Saber-tooth Cave at Lecanto there are two bones, the 

 distal part of a tibio-tarsus and the upi3er portion of a metatarsus, the 

 latter from a juvenile individual. All this material was collected by 

 W. W. Holmes. These remains are similar in size and form to those 

 of modern individuals. 



' Journ. Geol., 1917, p. 18; Florida State Geo!. Surv., Ninth Ann. Rep. 

 1917, P- 36, pl. I, fig. 2. 



