TIIK TIKKKY \TI;ITI;K. 



1(55 



Kidir\vay, near Mount Carmel, Illinois, May C, 1878. No. 21574, from :i set of 

 two (I'l. I, Fiir. .">), "as taken near Ilchester, Marvliiml, on May ;>(), ixsl, by 



.M.-. ('. W. Beckham. 



59. Catharista atrata (BAKTRAM). 



BLACK \TI.TIKK. 



I'l/l/ur iitmtius BARTRAM, Travels in Carolina., ITU'.', ^85. 

 f'i //////*/(/ (itrtltil (ilJAY, llandlnni; I, ISli'.l, :!. 



(B ;{, C 3(i(i, R 455. C 5:18, U .'{ 



GEOGRAPHICAL KANOK: Whole of tropical and warm temperate America, south 

 to Ar^enlin. Republic and Chile, north regularly to North Carolina and Lower Mis- 



sissippi Valley, western Texas; irregularly or casually to Maine, New York, Ohio. 

 Indiana. Illinois, Kansas, and South |)akota. 



The Black Vulture or Carrion Crow has a much more restricted distribution 

 than the preceding species. It is less roviny than the former and is generally 

 a constant resident wherever found, except in the extreme northern portion of 

 its ran^-e. It is also far more abundant on the seaboard than in the interior. 



The breeding ran^e of this Vulture may be defined as follows: ( >n the Atlan- 

 tic coast, from southern North Carolina, southward through the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf States. In the interior it has been found breeding in both southern 

 Indiana and southern Illinois, but seems to be very irregularly distributed. It 

 occasionally straggles into southern Ohio, and specimens have been taken in 

 New York, and even in Maine. It has also been found breeding in Kansas, but 

 on a single occasion only, as far as known. In 'Texas it is a summer resident 

 in the central and western parts of the Stale, and in the southern portions 

 it is found throughout the year. 



Mr. William Lloyd found it breeding near San An-elo, Tom (ireen 

 County, in June, 1881, and he writes me in this connection as follows: "A 

 strange habit of both the Black and the Turkey Vulture in western Texas is 

 the fact that though abundant in summer, in winter we are left without a Single 

 one. This is not due to lack of carrion, lor every winter the place is full of 

 dead cattle, nor to temperature, for here in Presidio ( 'ountv it rarel\ freezes. 

 The altitude, too, is rather less than in Concho County and the Staked Plains, 

 when- the same state of affairs obtains. Then why is it that this bird, and 

 especially the Turkey Vulture, which is well known to winter much farther 

 north in other regions, is entirely absent from the bend of the K'io (Jrande and 

 the Concho Valley during this season.'" 



The Black Vulture is only common in the southern parts of the 1'nited 

 States, usually outnumbering the Turkey Vulture near the seashore and bein- 

 outnumbered by the latter in the interior. It rarely breeds north of lati- 

 tude ;u;. 



In its habits it differs but little from the Turkey Vulture. It is not nearly 

 so graceful a bird on the win- as the latter, its flight beinir much heavier and 

 apparently laborious, and is accompanied by considerable flapping of the win^s. 



