BIRDS—VULTURIDAE—CATHARTES ATRATUS. 5 
CATHARTES CALIFORNIANUS, Shaw 
The California Vulture. 
Vultur californianus, SHaw, Nat. Misc. IX, 1, pl. 301 (1779). 
Vultur columbianus, Ord, Guthrie's Geog. II, 315 (1815). 
Cathartes vulturinus, Temm. Pla. col. I, pl. 31 (1820). 
Ficurrs.—Aud. B. of Am. pl. 411, Oct. ed. I, pl. 1; Gray, Gen. of Birds, I, pl. 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 orange 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 be restricted to the countries west of the Rocky Mountains, where it is 
occasionally observed 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, Bartram. 
The Black Vulture--The Carrion Crow 
Vultur atratus, Bartram, Travels, p. 289. (1791.) 
Vultur urubu, Vie1ort, Ois. d’Am. Septent. I, 53. (1807.) 
Ficures.—Vieill. Ois. d’Am. Sept. I, pl. 2; Wilson Am. Orn. IX, pl. 75, fig. 2; Aud. B. of Am. pl. 106: Oct. ed. I, pl. 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 white. 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, 163 inches; tail, 8} inches. 
Hab. Southern North America, Central America, Nort 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. 
