BIRDS OF NEW YORK 63 



the oil gland is naked; there are no coeca; no syrinx or lower larynx; the 

 ambiens, semitendinosus and its accessories are present, as is usually the 

 femorocaudal ; there are no after shafts on the feathers; color somber; sexes 

 alike in size and plumage. 



This is a well-marked group, evidently of neotropical origin, con- 

 sisting of 9 species. The characters in which they differ from other diurnal 

 birds of prey are deemed sufficient by many ornithologists to place them 

 in a separate order, the Cathartidiformes of Sharpe's Handlist. Their 

 appearance and habits are also strongly characteristic. They are ambula- 

 torial in gait and listless in attitude. More or less gregarious in habit, 

 they sit about on dead trees, fences and large buildings sunning them- 

 selves in somber companies, or soar with easy, circling flight high over 

 the fields looking for refuse or carrion ' which is their principal food. 

 Their feet are wholly unfitted for carrying prey, as the blunt talons and 

 small, elevated hallux would indicate ; and thus rarely or never subsist on 

 living animals. They regurgitate the disgusting contents of their crops for 

 the young to feed upon. The nest is usually built on the ground, among 

 rocks, or in a hollow stump in a secluded part of the woods. The eggs are 

 commonly two in number. These birds have long been considered bene- 

 ficial and are the principal scavengers of the southern fields, rendering 

 efficient service to the community by destroying all kinds of offal. 



Cathartes aura septentrionalis (Wied.) 

 Turkey Vulture 



Plate 43 



Vultur aura septentrionalis Wied. Reise Nord-America. 1839. 1:162 



Cathartes aura DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 2, fig. 12 



Cathartes aura septentrionalis A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. 



p. 152. No. 325 



cathdrtes, Gr. /.aOapTifc a cleanser, i. e. a scavenger; aura, probably a latinized form 

 of urubu; septentrionalis, Lat., Northern 



Description. Adult: Head and upper portion of neck bare, dull 

 crimson, becoming bright red on base of bill. Plumage black, glossed 

 with purple or greenish on the back, and the feathers of the upper parts, 

 especially the wing-coverts and the secondaries, margined with grayish 



