CATir.ililSTA. 221 



inches, tail 11.00-12.00, culmen 1.00, tarsus 2.25-2.30, middle toe 

 2.50. A^est a cavity among rocks or in hollow of a log, stump, 

 or tree-trunk, without additional material. Egjs 2, 2.83 X 1-93, 

 ovate or broadlj' elliptical ovate, white, buffy white, or greenish 

 white, more or less spotted or blotched with rich brown (madder or 

 burnt-umber) and purplish gray. Ilab. Nearly the whole of temper- 

 ate and tropical America, including West Indies; south to Falkland 

 Islands and Patagonia, north, more or less regularly, to southern 

 New England, Xow York, the Saskatchewan, and British Columiiia. 

 325. C. aura (Linn.). Turkey Vulture. 

 b'. Plumage of upper parts entirelj- uniform dull black; naked skin of head 

 and upper neck of adult j-ellow in life. 



Wing 20.00, tail 12.00, culmen .82, tarsus 2.50, middle toe 2.40. Sab. 

 Amazonian region of South America (Guiana to eastern Peru). 



C. pernigra (Sharpe). Amazonian Turkey Vulture.' 

 a'. X'ppcr part of hind-neck feathered quite to the occiput ; wing less than 20.00. 

 Adult: Entirely uniform black (as in C. pernigra), the shafts of the quills 

 ■white ; " bill and cere reddish white ; crown and lower side of head pale 

 violet or sky-blue ; side of head, neck, and throat beautiful gray-orange;" 

 iris red ; bill white. Immature : " Iris blackish graj* ; head in very 

 young birds reddish gray, whitish on crown and over the eye ; neck 

 bluish, subsequent to which the head becomes reddish violet, with a 

 ■whitish blue patch on the occipital region." (Gcrney.) Downy young : 

 " The down is light rufous ; the bill, the lower part of the face, and the 

 cheeks, are black; the rest of the head light rufous washed with brown; 

 the iris chocolate; the feet flesh-color, with blackish scales."* Length 

 about 22.00-25.00, wing 18.00-18.50, tail 8.50-9.00, culmen .80-.90, tar- 

 sus 2.10-2.40, middle toe 2.15-2.25. Hab. Eastern tropical America 

 (except West Indies), from Brazil to eastern Mexico (Vera Cruz) ; 

 southern Texas ? 



C. burrovianus Cass. Burroughs's Turkey Vulture.' 



Genus CATHARISTA Yieillot. (Page 219, pi. LXIY., fig. 7.) 



Species. 



Adult : Entire plumage uniform dull black, the quills grayish basally (hoar^v 

 whitish on under surface), their shafts pure white; bill duskj- with yellowish or 

 whitish tip; naked skin of head and fore-neck dusky. Young: Not obviously 



' (Eiinpt pemiyrn SnARPB, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. i. 1874, 26. Cathartet pernigra RiDOW., Bull. Nutt. Orn. 

 Club, V. ISSO, 83. 



' Profcj'or A. Dugjs, of Gunnnjunto, Mexico, in letter. I refer somewhat doubtfully the bird which he de- 

 scribes to C. 6iirrorioiii(«, for the reason that it certainly is not C. atirn nor Calhnrlutn alrnia, and no other 

 species besides these and C. burrorinntit is known to inhabit Mexico. Drawings sent by Professor DugS?, rc|)- 

 resenting both the bir<l under consideration and the corrcsiionding stage of Catharltla alrata, show conclusively 

 that it is a true Cathnrlt: 



' Cathnrlta burrocianut Cass., Proc. Ac. Xat. Sci. Phila., ii. 1515, 212. 



