246 HISTORY OF THE 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing, Wing, Tail* Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 26.50 59.00 17.20 8,50 3.10 .95 



Female... 26.00 58.50 17.00 8.00 3.10 .90 



Iris light reddish brown; bill pale olive blue, tips whitish; 

 cere and claws black: legs and feet grayish blue. 



This species has a much less extended distribution than the 

 Turkey Vultures, but it largely outnumbers them in the tropical 

 regions, its natural habitat; although quite a hardy bird, as 

 it occasionally winters in the southern part of the Indian Ter- 

 ritory. I have a pair in the "Goss Ornithological Collection," 

 shot in February, at Limestone Gap, Choctaw Nation, where 

 they have bred in the crevices of the rocks for years. These 

 birds are also much stouter built, and, if possible, more awk- 

 ward upon the ground, from which they heavily rise, in a run- 

 ning, leaping manner; and in flight more laborious, flapping 

 and sailing as they go. They are occasionally known to kill 

 young pigs and chickens, but their value as scavengers saves 

 them. About the cities they become as tame as our domestic 

 fowls, feeding with the same and perching and roosting upon 

 the housetops; and I have seen them following and riding upon 

 carts loaded with offal, and fearlessly feeding from the dump, 

 or a carcass, with mongrel curs that, strange to say, never harm 

 them. 



Their nests are placed on the ground, and in old, hollow logs 

 and crevices of rocks. Begin laying about the middle of April. 

 Eggs two, laid on the bare ground and rotten wood, no mate- 

 rial of any kind used for lining; 3.00x2.00; dull yellowish to 

 bluish white, spotted and blotched irregularly, in some cases 

 sparingly, on others thickly, with umber to dark reddish brown; 

 in form, rounded oval. 



SUBORDER FALCONES. VULTURES, FALCONS, HAWKS, 

 BUZZARDS, EAGLES, HARRIERS, KITES, ETC. 



Head entirely feathered, or only partially naked; nostrils vertical or round- 

 ish; no web between inner and middle toes; hind toe well developed, with Jaw, 

 sharp claws, inserted at the same level with anterior toes, the feet especially 

 adapted for grasping. (Ridgway.) 



Eyes lateral, not surrounded by disks of radiating feathers; cere exposed; 

 outer toe not reversible (except in Pandion). (Ridyway.) 



