THE AMERICAN VULTURES 



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most inquisitive bird passing within five yards of my retreat, when to drop the lock 

 and deliver the contents of both barrels was the work of a second. To see a heavy 

 bird such as a mallard suddenly drop with a thud, is generally satisfactory, so my 

 feelings may be understood when my raptorial friend plumped down about two hun- 

 dred feet below, sliding and rolling down the sand of the precipice, at the foot of 

 which I found him lying as dead as a stone. ' ' 



KING VULTURE. 



(One-fifth natural size.) 



The brilliantly-colored king vulture (Cathartes pat>a\ is distin- 

 King Vulture . , , . - ., , .\ , . . . . f . ' . 



guished genencally from the condor, to which it is far inferior in size, 



by the second toe being longer than the fourth, and by the whole of the front of 

 the head of the male being covered with wattles, while the female has a single 

 upright wattle over the nostril. During life the naked portions of the head and 

 neck of the male are colored with shades of orange, purple, and crimson; while the 

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