154 



VULTURES. 



VULTURES. 



R. 



Large birds with naked heads, large wings fitted for 

 strong flight ; feet adapted for walking, not for grasping ; 

 food, usually animal matter found dead and sometimes par- 

 tially decayed. Sexes, similar. 



A. DUSKY VULTURES. Catliartidae. 



Dusky throughout with no prominent white markings; 



neck without spinal ruff of elongated feathers. (Note :- the 



small figs.* representing birds in silhouette with extended 



wings are flight contours as seen from below, see fig. 187*etc.) 



a. Naked-breasted Vultures. Cathartes, 



Bill, short and thick ; nostrils, open; tail, long and round 

 ed, upper breast, naked, but concealed by elongated feathers 

 on its sides. Eggs, 2, whitish mottled with brown ; young, 

 covered with whitish down. 



1. TURKEY VULTUBE, C. AURA. 27.50; dark-brown 

 with a slight bluish iridescence; head, a livid red, fig. 187 

 America, from N. J., the Ohio Valley, Fig. 187. 



and Saskatchewan southward through 

 a portion of the Bahamas and West In- 

 dies to Patagonia ; casual in N. E. Flight, 

 steady, with long sweeping curves, sail- 

 ing most of the time without flapping, 

 sometimes at a considerable height 

 where it moves in wide circles. Food, 

 mainly freshly killed animals. Incap- 

 able of producing any vocal sound save 

 a kind of hiss. .Social, gathering in 

 large flocks during the day and restin g 

 together in larger numbers during the R, A, a, 1. 1-12, 

 night. 



