CATHARTID/E. 89 



Fam. XXXIII. CATHARTID.E, OK CONDORS. 



The American Vultures, or Condors as it is better to call them, are 

 now universally admitted to be quite distinct from the rest of the 

 Accipitres and to constitute a family apart. They differ from the 

 Falconidae in having the hind toe inserted at a higher level than the 

 others, and in the nostrils being pervious, owing to the absence of the 

 bony septum, besides in other important characters*. 



The Cathartidse are few in number, only some six or seven species 

 being accurately known. Of these, three occur within the limits of the 

 Argentine Republic. . 



311. CATHARTES AURA (Linn.). 

 (TU RKEY-VULTURE.) 



Cathartes aura, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 123 ; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 624 

 (Misiones) ; Burm. La-Plata Eeise, ii. p. 433 (Mendoza, Catamarca, Tucu- 

 man). CEnops aura, Sharpe, Cat. B. i. p. 25. Rhinogryphus aura, 

 Baird, Brno., et Eidgw. N. A. B. iii. p. 344. 



Description. Plumage black, the feathers above edged more or less with dull ( ^ 

 brown ; head and neck bare, bright red in life : whole length 30*0 inches, A^ 

 wing 21*5, tail 11*5. Female similar. JO 



Hob. Temperate and Tropical America, and south to Chili and the ; 

 Falkland Islands. 



In Argentina the Turkey-Vulture appears only to occur in the 

 northern and western provinces. Dr. Burmeister noticed it occasionally 

 in Mendoza, Catamarca, and Tucuman. In Misiones, White found it 

 abundant at Concepcion. I met with it in Patagonia, but it is by no 

 means common there, and is only seen singly or in pairs. 



312. CATHARTES ATRATUS (Bartram). 

 (BLACK VULTURE.) 



Cathartes foetans, Burm. La-Plata Eeise, ii. p. 433 (Mendoza, Tucuman). 

 Cathartes atratus, Darwin, Zool Beagle, iii. p. 7 (Rio Negro) ; Scl.-et 

 Salv. Nomencl. p. 123 ; Sclater, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 636 (Rio Negro) ; Barrows, 

 Auk, 1884, p. 113 (Pampas). Catharista atrata, Baird, Brew., et Eidgw. 

 N. A. B. iii. p. 351. 



Description. Plumage black; head bare, black: whole length 25'0 inches, 

 wing 17'5, tail 8'5. Female similar. 



* Cf. Standard Nat. Hist. vol. iv., Birds, p. 266 (Boston, 1885). 



