84 EiDGWAY on the American Vultures. 



extend upwards on the hack of the neck ; a small bare space on the breast. 

 Wings long, the quills and tail-feathers black, with the shafts of the 

 primaries white and conspicuous; third primary longest. The smallest 

 American Vulture known. 



" Total length (of skin) 22 inches, bill 2h, wing 18, tail 8i. 



" Hab. — Near Vera Cruz. 



" This species resembles C. aura, Linn., in the shape of the bill and 

 nostrils, and in having the tail rounded, but differs from it not only in size, 

 but the feathers extend upwards on the hack of the neck and lie flat instead 

 of forming a ruff; the plumage of the specimen now described is black, 

 none of the feathers having pale margins, as is commonly the case in speci- 

 mens of C. aura; the shafts of the primaries are clear white, and the head 

 is more entirely destitute of downy feathers. The tarsi are longer and 

 more slender. 



" The head of C. hurrovianus is quite smooth, in which, as in other 

 respects, it is very different from C. atratus, Wilson. 



" This new species was obtained in the vicinity of Vera Cruz, by the 

 late M. Burrough, M. D., in honor of whom I have named it, as a slight 

 acknowledgment for his very valuable services to natural history, and to 

 this Academy." 



Cathartes pernigra, Sharpe. — A specimen of this species 

 is in the Maximilian collection, at the American Museum, New 

 York. It appears quite distinct from both C. aura and C. hurro- 

 vianus, being, in fact, somewhat intermediate between the two. In 

 size it is nearly, if not quite, equal to C. aura, and, like the latter, 

 has the nape entirely bare of feathers, the plumage commencing 

 abruptly about half-way down the neck. The shafts of the primaries 

 are a lighter brown than in C. aura, but not so white as in hurro- 

 vianus. In regard to the plumage, however, there is a much closer 

 resemblance to C. hiirrovianus, the back and wings being wholly 

 black, like the lower parts, without a trace of the light-brownish 

 borders to the feathers, so conspicuous in aura. The black is also 

 much less glossy than in the latter. 



The specimen (male) is, unfortunately, not quite adult, the bill 

 being partly blackish, and the nape covered with a soft dusky down. 

 The measurements are as follows : wing, 20.00 ; tail, 12.00 ; culmen 

 (chord of the arch), .85 ; tarsus, 2.50 ; middle toe, 2.40. 



The bill and feet appear more slender than those of C. aura. 



