14*2 



BLACK VULTURE. 

 Catharistii atrata. 



DESCRIPTION. 



"Adult. -l':nt:rf plumage dull hlaok, llic quills grayish 

 hasuUy (.hoai-y whitish un under surl"acf>, ihelr shafts pviii' 

 white; bill dusky with yellowish or whitish tip; naked skin of 

 head and foreneck dusky. Jjeng-th Zi-^l; extent about 54 

 inches." — Ridg-way. Manual N. A. Rird.«;. 



Habitat. ■~^c,\x\.\\ Atlantic and Gulf states, north to Nortli 

 Carolina and the Lower Ohio Valley, west to the great i^lains. 

 and Soutli through Mexico and Central America and most of 

 South America. Straggling- north to New York and Maine. 



A specimen of the Black Vulture or Carrion Crow, 

 as fhis bird is sometimes called, was taken in Dauphin 

 county in ]892. Stragglers have been observed in 

 Northampton county by Dr. John W. Detwiller and 

 the late Edmund Ricksecker. In relation to the 

 marked difference in the manners of the present species 

 and the Turkey Buzzard ^Nlr. 1^)1»(mi Kidgwny* jMib 

 lishes the following: 



"Both in their mode of flig-ht and in theiT movements uptui 

 the ground this species differs materially from the Turkey 

 Buzzard. The latter walks steadily while on the ground, and 

 when it mounts does so by a single upward spring. The 

 Black Vulture is ill at ease on th% ground, moves awkwardly, 

 and when it essays to fly upward takes several leaps in a 

 shuffling side-long manner before it can rise. 



"Their flight is more labored, and is continued by flapping 

 s<-vera! times, alternated with sailing a limited distame. 

 Their wings are held at right angles, and their feet protrude 

 beyond their tail-feathers. In all these respects the differences 

 between the two birds are very noticeable, and plainly mark 

 the species." — (Brewer.) 



The following interesting account of this species is 

 f lom the pen of Thomas Nuttall :t 



FEEDS ON CARRION NOT POULTRY. 

 "This smaller black and truly gregarious species of vulture. 



*The Ornithology of Illinois, Part T, Robert Ridgwav SDrine- 

 fleld. Illinois. 1889. " ' 



t A ^ran^)al of the Ornithology of the United States and Can- 

 ada, by Thomas Nuttall; The Land Birds; Cambridge, lS;{i;. 



