VULTURIDjE. — CATIIARTES ATRATUS. 5 



stated that it was foimd as far to tlie north, on the eastern coast, as Maniand. If 

 so, its occurreuce must be very rare, and I can tind no satisfictory confirmation of 

 the statement.' It is not often met with farther north than WUmmgton, N. C. At 

 Norfolk, Va., if occurring at aU, it has not been distinguished from the Tiu-key 

 Buzzard ; for I was unable to find any one who had met with this Vultiu-e there, 

 to his knowledge, though familiar with the bu-d itself. Along the coast of all the 

 Southern States, from North Carolina to Texas, it is much more abmidant than 

 its kindred species, even where, ur the ulterior of the same State, it is far less fre- 

 quent. Along the banks of the Mississippi and its tributaries, as far as Ohio 

 to the east and Illinois to the north, it is found more or less abundantly, at certain 

 seasons. Dr. Gambcl met with it in great numbers on the Pacific coast of Califor- 

 nia,^ and Dr. S. Cabot, Jr. found it the most prevalent species in Central America.^ 



As to what its extreme southern limits may be, the same doubts arise as in re- 

 gard to those of the preceding, because in South America it has been, until veiy 

 recently, confounded A\ith a smaller and quite distinct species,^ Catliartes brasili- 

 ensis. It is not as yet possible to determme to Avhat extent this species occurs in 

 that region, or how far vpiiters, in speaking of the C. atratus, have had in view only 

 that for which it has been mistaken. Mr. Cassin, however, informs me that he has 

 seen a specimen of the real C. atratus from Peru, and specimens were also brought 

 by Lieutenant Gilliss from Chile, obtained near Santiago, where it was not common, 

 and only found in the mountainous regions of the interior. Dar^vin fixes its extreme 

 southern limit in latitude 41° south, near the Rio Negro,* and he did not meet with 

 it in Cliile or Patagonia. 



In the Southern Atlantic cities, especially Charleston and Savannah, the Black 

 Vulture, or Carrion Crow, as it is as frequently called, is a semi-domestic bii'd, and 

 is very abundant. It is also to be found in the interior, but is neither so common 

 nor so tame. It breeds on or near the ground, in the same manner as the Turkey 

 Buzzard, in hollow logs, decayed trunks of trees, and stumps, and also without this 

 protection, the bare earth only bemg made use of It makes no nest.^ The eggs sel- 

 dom if ever exceed two in number. These are greater, both in their length and 

 capacity, than those of the Turkey Buzzard, although the measurements of the birds 

 themselves would seem to show the latter to be apparently the larger of the two, ■ 

 its length being 32 inches, and that of C. atratus but 26. As, however, the average 

 weight of the Carrion Crow is about one pound, or fifteen per cent, greater than that 

 of the Buzzard, this superiority in the eggs of the C. atratus ceases to seem anoma- 

 lous." Three eggs, from Charleston, Galveston, and the Rio Grande, furnish the 



^ An accidental specimen of the Black Vulture was obtained in Swampscot, Massachusetts, November, 

 1850, by Mr. S. Jillson, of Lynn, a diligent and reliable ornithologist. 

 ^ Journal of Philadelphia Academy, Second Series, I, 26. 



* Cassin's Birds of California, &c., p. 59. 



* Darwin's Zoology of the Beagle, Part III, p. 7. 



^ The statement of Mr. Abbott of Georgia, that this Vulture breeds on trees, is not well founded. No 

 well-authenticated instance is known. 



^ The length of a bird cannot always be taken as a safe guide in determining the probable size of 

 its egg. Much depends upon the shape and relative capacity of the pelvis, and much also upon the 



