CHAPTER II. 



REPORT UPON THE BIRDS.* 



CATHAETES GALIFORNIANUS. 

 Californian Vulture. 



A portion of every day's experience in our march through the Sacramento valley was a 

 pleasure in watching the graceful evolutions of this splendid hird. Its colors are pleasing ; the 

 head orange, hody hlack, with wings brown and white and black, while its flight is easy and 

 effortless, almost beyond that of any other bird. As I sometimes recall the characteristic scenery 

 of California, those interminable stretches of waving grain, with, here and there, between the 

 rounded hills, orchard-like clumps of oak, a scene so solitary and yet so home-like, over these 

 oat-covered plains and slopes, golden yellow in the sunshine, always floats the shadow of the 

 vulture. 



This vulture, though common in California, is much more shy and difficult to shoot than its 

 associate, the turkey buzzard, (C. aura,) and is never seen in such numbers or exhibiting such 

 familiarity as the two species, C. aura and C. atratus, the efficient scavengers which swarm in 

 our southern cities. We had, however, on our first entrance into the field, many opportunities 

 of shooting this bird, but were unwilling to burden ourselves with it. After we left the Sacra- 

 mento valley, we saw very few in the Klamath basin, and none within the limits of Oregon. It 

 is sometimes found there, but much more rarely tban in California. In size, the Californian 

 vulture is second only to the condor, attaining a length of four feet, and a stretch of wing of ten 

 feet, or more. A fine specimen was presented to Dr. Sterling on his return to San Francisco, 

 and was for some time kept alive. He succeeded, however, in tearing from his legs the cord 

 which confined him, and escaped. He ate freely the meat given him, and was a magnificent bird. 



CATHAETES AUEA. 

 The Turkey Buzzard. 



As in all other parts of the United States, the turkey buzzard is found in California and 

 Oregon. Not, perhaps, anywhere collected in as large numbers as are sometimes seen in the 

 more southern of the eastern States ; the paucity of animal life being the probable cause of its 

 rarity ; yet in the vicinity of the towns and about the great rivers it is quite common. 



In the Klamath basin it is more rare ; that dry and sterile region affording few attractions 



* As the final determination of the species of birds collected by the expedition has not yet been completed by Prof. 1'aird, 

 the names here given are to be considered merely as temporary. In his general report upon the birds of the Pacific Railroad 

 Surreys, hereafter to appear, the names and pages of the species in this article will all be carefully quoted, and any errors 

 of determination thus rectified. 



10 BB 



