8 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



than in the southern half of the continent. These vultures certainly are 

 gregarious ; for they seem to have pleasure in each other's society, and are not 

 solely brought together by the attraction of a common prey. On a fine day, 

 a flock may often be seen at a great height ; each bird wheeling round and 

 round in the most graceful evolutions. This is evidently done for their sport ; 

 or, perhaps, is connected (for a similar habit may sometimes be observed dur- 

 ing the breeding season amongst our common rooks) with their matrimonial 

 alliances. 



2. Cathartes aura. Illi. 



Vultur aura, Linn. 



, Jardine's Wihon, vol. iii. p. 226. 



Vultur jota, Molina, Compendio de la Hist, del Eeyno de Chile, vol i. p. 296. 

 Turkey-buzzard and Carrion Crow of the English in America. 



This bird has a wide geographical range, being found from 55° S. to Nova 

 Scotia (according to Wilson, in Jardine's edition, vol. iii. p. 231,) in 45° N. ; 

 or exactly one hundred degrees of latitude. Its lesser range in Northern than 

 in Southern America is probably due to the more excessive nature of the climate 

 in the former hemisphere. It is said to be partly migatory during winter, in the 

 Northern and even in the Middle States, and likewise on the shores of the Pacific, 

 The C. aura is found in the extreme parts of Tierra del Fuego, and on the 

 indented coast, covered with thick forests, of West Patagonia, (but not on the 

 arid plains of Eastern Patagonia,) in Chile, where it is called Jote, in Peru, in 

 the West Indies ; and, according to Wilson, it remains even during winter, in 

 New Jersey and Delaware, latitude 40°. It and one of the family of Polyborinae 

 are the only two carrion-feeding hawks, which have found their way to the 

 Falkland Islands. The Turkey buzzard, as it is generally called by the English, 

 may be recognized at a great distance from its lofty, soaring and most graceful 

 flight. It is generally solitary, or, at most, sweeps over the country in pairs. 

 In Tierra del Fuego, and on the west coast of Patagonia, it must live exclusively 

 on what the sea throws up, and on dead seals : wherever these animals in 

 herds were sleeping on the beach, there this vulture might be seen, patiently 

 standing on some neighbouring rock. At the Falkland Islands it was tolerably 

 common ; but sometimes there would not be a single one near the settlement for 

 several days together, and then many would suddenly appear. They were 

 usually shy ; a disposition which is remarkable, as being difierent from that 

 of almost every other bird in this Archipelago. May we infer from this 

 that they are migratory, like those of the northern hemisphere ? In a female 

 specimen killed there, the skin of the head was intermediate in colour between 



