Ridgway on the California Vulture. I Gl 



REMARKS ON THE CALIFORNIAN VULTURE 

 ( PSE UD OGR TPHUS CA L IFORNIA NUS ) . 



BY ROBERT RIDGWAY. 



Among some remarks by me respecting" the distinctive char- 

 acters of the genus Pseudogryphus, published in the 'Nuttall 

 Bulletin' for April, 1SS0, p. So, occurs the following statement: 

 "In the enumeration of the diagnostic characters of this genus 

 in 'History of North American Birds' (Vol. Ill, pp. 337, 338), 

 .... a very important one was overlooked, viz., the possession 

 of fourteen rectrices, in which ' Vultitr califomianus appar- 

 ently differs from all other Sarcorkamfihidce." Subsequently, 

 Mr. J. H. Gurney wrote me asking whether all specimens in 

 the National Museum collection possessed fourteen rectrices, and 

 stating that he had not been able to find more than twelve in 

 those preserved in the Norwich Museum. This prompted a 

 reexamination into the matter, with results tending to annul, in 

 great measure, the statement quoted, since it is proven that the 

 possession of fourteen rectrices by this species is, if not excep- 

 tional, at least not the rule. The writer is unable to remember 

 the basis of his statement that P. californianus possessed this 

 number of tail-feathers, but it was probably based on the adult 

 specimen described in 'History of North American Birds,' (Vol. 

 Ill, p. 339), now no longer in the National Museum collection, 

 having been a badly prepared, unpoisoned skin, which was sub- 

 sequently destroyed by insects. The only two examples now in 

 the National Museum, both young birds, each possess but twelve 

 rectrices, as do also two fine adults in Mr. Henshaw's collection. 

 A specimen in the American Museum of Natural History, in 

 New York City, however, possesses thirteen tail-feathers, one 

 being wanting, so there must have been originally fourteen, 

 which is the number represented by Audubon in his plate of this 

 species and, according to Mr. Gurney (Cat. Diurn. Accipitres, 

 [884, p. 3. foot-note), being "a peculiarity first noticed by Au- 

 dubon," though I am unable to find where he makes mention of 

 it, since in his description (B. Am., oct. ed., I, p. 14) he gives 

 the number as twelve. Swainson and Richardson (Fauna 

 Boreali-Americana. II. p. 3) in their description of this species. 



