THE VULTURES 2013 



time flying backward and forward, up and down, in a semicircle, trying each time 

 at the bottom of the curve to strike its larger relative. The carancha takes little 

 notice, except by bobbing its head. ' ' Of the Falkland island species he observes 

 that ' ' these birds in many respects resemble the caranchas. They live on the flesh 

 of dead animals and on marine productions, and on the Ramirez rocks their whole 

 sustenance must depend on the sea. They are extraordinarily tame and fearless, 

 and haunt the neighborhood of houses for offal. If a hunting party kills an animal, 

 a number soon collect and patiently await, standing on the ground on all sides. 

 After eating, their uncovered craws are largely protruded, giving them a disgusting 

 appearance. They readily attack wounded birds; a cormorant in this state having 

 taken to the shore, was immediately seized on by several, and its death hastened by 

 their blows." He adds that like the caranchas, several of these birds will some- 

 times "wait at the mouth of a rabbit hole, and together seize on the animal when 

 it comes out." In addition to being exceedingly mischievous, these caracaras are 

 ' ' quarrelsome and very passionate, tearing up the grass with their bills from rage. 

 They are not truly gregarious; they do not soar, and their flight is heavy and 

 clumsy; on the ground they run extremely fast, very much like pheasants. They 

 are noisy, uttering several harsh cries, one of which is exceedingly like that of the 

 English rook; hence the sealers always call them rooks. It is a curious circum- 

 stance that, when crying out, they throw their heads upward and backward, after 

 the same manner as the carancha. They build in the rocky cliffs of the seacoast, 

 "but only on the small adjoining islets, and not on the two main islands; this is a 

 singular precaution in so tame and fearless a bird." In the North- American species 

 of Polyborus the eggs are generally two or three in number, and have a pale ground 

 color, almost concealed by dark blotchings. 



THE VULTURES 

 Family VULTURID^E 



As a matter of convenience it is found advisable to separate the true or Old- 

 World vultures from the Hawk family, although it is difficult to draw any well- 

 marked line of distinction between the two groups, which are intimately connected 

 by the lammergeiers. All the vultures are, however, birds of large size, and, with 

 the exception of the lammergeiers, characterized by the head and neck being more 

 or less bare, or clothed only with short stubbly down, true feathers being absent 

 from the crown of the head. The males are as large or larger than the females. 

 In all, the beak is rather long, compressed, and straight for some distance from its 

 base, after which it is sharply bent down; its upper mandible may be sinuated, but 

 is never toothed. The cere is very large, and the metatarsus, which is generally 

 naked, is comparatively short, stout, and covered with small reticulated scales. 

 The toes have rather long and slightly-curved claws; the third toe being always 

 long and the first short, while the third and fourth are joined at their bases by 

 a membrane. As in the preceding family, the nostrils are separated by a median 



