282 



THE KING VULTURE. 



Wiieu he had consumed as much snake as nature informed him would 

 do him good, he retired to the top of a high mora tree, and then all the 

 common Vultures fell to and made a hearty meal." 



The King Vulture is a native of tropical America, and is most 

 common near the equator, though it is found as far as the thirtieth 



degree of south latitude, and 

 the thirty-second of north 

 latitude. Peru, Brazil, Gui- 

 ana, Paraguay, and Mexico 

 are the chosen residences of 

 this fine species. It is a forest- 

 loving bird, caring nothing for 

 the lofty home of the condor, 

 but taking up its residence 

 upon the low and heavily- 

 wooded regions in close prox- 

 imity to swampy and marshy 

 places, where it is most likely 

 to find abundance of dead and 

 putrefying animal substances. 

 Its nest, or rather the spot on 

 which it deposits its eggs, is 

 within the hollow of some de- 

 caying tree. The eggs are two 

 in number. 



In its adult state the King 

 Vulture is a most gorgeously- 

 decorated bird, though its gen- 

 eral aspect and the whole ex- 

 pression of its demeanor are 

 rather repulsive tlian other- 

 wise. The greater part of 

 The King \vL,TVRi: {Sarcorhamphus Papa), the feathers upon the back 



are of a beautiful satiny 

 white, tinged more or less deeply with fawn, and the abdomen is of a 

 pure white. On account of its color, the bird is termed the White 

 Crow by the Spaniards of Paraguay. The long pinions of the wing 

 and tail are deep black, and the base of the neck is surrounded with 

 a thick ruff or collar of downy gray feathers. 



The most brilliant tints are, however, those of the naked skin of the 

 head and neck. " The throat and back of the neck," says Waterton, 

 "are of a fine lemon-color; both sides of the neck, from the ears down- 

 ward, of a rich scarlet ; behind the corrugated part there is a white 

 spot. The crown of the head is scarlet ; betwixt the lower mandible 



