BIRDS — VULTURIDAE — CATHARTES ATRATUS. 5 



CATHARTES CALIFORNIANUS, Shaw 



The California Tnltnre. 



VuUur cali/ornianm, Shaw, Nat. Misc. IX, 1, pi. 301 (1779). 

 Vulltir columbianus, Okd, Guthrie's Geog. 11, 315 (1S15). 

 Cathartes vuUurinm, Temm. Pla. col. I, pi. 31 (1820). 

 FiODBES.— Aud. B. of Am. pi. 411, Oct. ed. I, pi. 1 ; Gray, Gen. of Birds, I, pi. 2. 



The largest rapacious bird of North America. Head and neck bare, with a semicircular spot of short black feathers at 

 the base of the upper mandible, and a few straggling, short, or hair-like feathers on other parts of the head. Plumage 

 commencing on the neck, near the body, with a ruff of long lanceolate feathers continued on the breast. 



Entire plumage black, lustrous on the upper parts, duller below ; secondary quills with a grayish tinge ; greater wing 

 coverts tipped with white, forming a transverse band on the wing. Bill yellowish white ; iris carmine ; head and neck in 

 living bird oi'ange yellow and red. 



Total length 45 to 50 inches, wing 30 to 35, tail 15 to 18 inches. 



Hab. Western North America. Spec, in Nat. Mus. Washington, and Mus. Acad. Philadelphia. 



This large vulture is inferior in size only to the gigantic condor of the mountains of South 

 America. It appears to he restricted to the countries west of the Rocky Mountains, where it is 

 occasionally ohserved in abundance, especially in the vicinity of the rivers. It is represented, 

 however, as more cautious in its disposition than the smaller vultures of North America, though 

 much resembling them in its habits. 



A single .specimen in the National Museum was collected at the mouth of the Columbia river 

 by J. K. Townsend. 



CATHARTES ATRATUS, Bar tram. 



The Black Vulture—The Carrion Crovr 



Fuifur atrnlus, Bartram, Travels, p. 289. (1791.) 

 Vultur iirtihu, Vieillot, Ois. d'Am. Septent. I, 53. (1807.) 

 Figures.— Vieill. Ois. d'Am. Sept. I, pi. 2 ; Wilson Am. Orn. IX, pi. 75, fig. 2 ; Aud. B. of Am. pi. 106 : Oct. ed. I, pi. 3. 



Entire plumage deep uniform black, frequently with a bluish gloss on the back and wings. Shafts of quills white above and 

 below, quills on their under surface pale, in some specimens nearly while. Head and neck brownish or bluish black ; bill dark, 

 yellowish at the end. 



Plumage commencing higher on the back of the neck than on its sides or in front Head and naked portion of the neck warted 

 or corrugated, and with a few hair-like feathers ; bill rather long ; nostrils large and communicating with each other ; tail rather 

 short, truncate or even at the end, legs rather long. 



Total length, about 23 inches ; wing, 16| inches ; tail, 8i inches. 



Hab. Southern North America, Central America, Noit South America, Chile. Spec, in Nat. Mus. Washington, and 



Mus. Acad. Philadelphia. 



Abundant in the Southern States and gregarious at all seasons, congregating in large 

 numbers in the cities, where they are of great service in the destruction of all descriptions of 

 waste or dead animal substances. Found also in Central and Northern South America. On 

 the western coast of North America the occurrence of this vulture is doubtful, and no specimens 

 are in the collections of the surveying and exploring expeditions. The specimens in the 

 National Museum are from the Southern Atlantic States. 



