266 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



purpose. The eggs, generally but two, are dull white, dotted with light brown at the 

 obtuse ends. 



The American vultures, constituting the family CATHARTID^E, are peculiar in having 

 the hind toe inserted above the level of the rest, and the nostrils perforated, that is, 

 opening into each other through the bill, owing to the absence of the bony partition 

 which separates them in all other members of the order. There are many other points 

 of interest in their structure, such as the extreme shortness of the hind toe, and the 

 slight flexibility of the others; the comparatively short, blunt, and slightly curved 

 claws ; the decidedly long tarsus ; the somewhat lengthened and obtusely pointed, 

 slightly hooked bill; the nakedness of the head, etc. The cranial structure is also 

 peculiar, and it was Huxley's demonstration of these osteological peculiarities which 



FIG. 125. Cathartes atratus, carrion-crow, black vulture. 



has led to the separation of the American birds from the Old World vultures, with 

 which, until recently, they have always been associated. 



As their name implies, these birds are cleansers or scavengers, living mainly on 

 carrion and other refuse, but frequently attacking small, weak, or sickly animals when 

 other supplies fail. 



The smallest bird of the group, at least in extent of wing, is the carrion-crow or 

 black vulture, Cathartes atratus, so abundant in the Gulf states, extending as far north 

 as North Carolina, and ranging over almost the whole of Central and South America. 



It is exceedingly useful as a scavenger, and in many states is very justly protected 

 by law, and has become as abundant and unsuspicious about the city streets as the 

 pigeons themselves. Wilson, describing the scene about the freshly skinned carcass 

 of a horse, says : " The ground for a hundred yards around it was black with carrion- 



