352 



NORTH AMERICAN JURDS. 



cliusi'tts ami one in the I'my of Fnndy ; Imt sudi (iccauToiices mv very rave. 

 Aliinj^- the const of all the Southern States, I'runi North Carolina to Texas, it 

 is niiicii more ahundant than its kindred si)eeies, even where, in the interior 

 of the same State, it is i'ar less t're(iiieiit. Alonj,' the banks of the Mississippi 

 and its tributaries, as far as Ohio to the east and Illinois to the north, it is 

 found more or less abundantly at certain seasons. It is met with in several 

 of the West India Islands, though rare in Jamaica. Tt is abundant through- 

 out Central America, and occurs in nearly all jiarts of South America. Speci- 

 mens were Imnight from Chile by Lieutenant (iilliss, olitained near Santiago, 

 where it was not common, and only found in the mountiiino\is regions of the 

 interior. Darwin fixes its extreme southern limit in latitude 41° south, near 

 the liio Negro, and he did not meet witli any in Chile or Patagonia. 



Mr. K. C. Taylor, in his paper on the Birds of the West Indies, mentions 



Catharista ntrala. 



the great abundnnre of r.lark Vultures at Port of Spain, in Trinidad. Thoy 

 swarmed over the town, covered the roofs of the houses, and li\ed on the 

 best terms with the poultry. So tamo and familiar were they that he often 

 poked them with his stick or umbrella as ho walked through the streets. At 

 night they roo.sted in the trees in tho gardens and .sciuares of the town. They 

 were very aliundant all over Trinidad and in the ])avts of Venezuela he 

 visited, but ho found none in any of the i.slands from Trinidad to St. Thomas. 

 This species was not found in Jamaica by Mr. Gosse, but Mr. IMarch after- 

 wards re])orted it as a " recent settler." 



]\rr. G. C. Taylor (This, 1.S60, p. 22) found the Black Vulture very 

 abundant in Honduras, wiiero it is always to be seen in the villages, 

 sitting on tho roofs of the houses, wheeling in Hocks high in the air, or 

 feeding on the ofl'al in the streets. They wore very tame and very nu- 



