308 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



in dewy mornings, or after rains. Except after eating, 

 or while guarding their nest, they are so excessively 

 wary that the hunter can scarcely ever approach 

 sufficiently near for even buck-shot to take effect on 

 them, the fulness of the plumage affording them a 

 double chance of escaping uninjured. Their flight is 

 slow, steady, and particularly graceful, gliding along 

 with scarcely any apparent motion of the wings, the 

 tips of which are curved upward in flying. They 

 are seen in greatest numbers, and soar highest before 

 hurricanes and thunder-storms. Their quills are used 

 by the hunters as tubes for tobacco-pipes." 



The Turkey Vulture (Qathartus aura) is another 

 American species of smaller size, and more generally 

 distributed. It is about two feet and a half in length, 

 and six feet in the expanse of the wings. The upper 

 parts are nearly black, with some white markings, and 

 the lower parts sooty brown. They are common in 

 the United States, but leave the northern ones in the 

 winter. 



The Black Vulture (Cathartics atratm) ia a darker 



