NO. 6 REVISION OF AMERICAN VULTURES — WETMORE 7 



Some specimens from Cuba have the edgings on the wing coverts 

 sHghtly paler than normal. It is possible that this may be due to a 

 factor of septentrionalis relationship (in which this paler color is 

 definite) from the population that is found in nearby Florida. 



Immature birds in aura, like those of meridionalis, sometimes have 

 the middle coverts edged lightly with grayish white. 



CATHARTES AURA RUFICOLLIS Spix 



Cathartes ruficollis Spix, Avium Spec. Nov. Brasiliam, vol. 1, 1824, p. 2. 



(Interior of Baia and Piaui, Brazil.) 

 Oenops pcrnigra Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. 1, 1874, p. 26. (South 



bank of the River Amazon, about 100 miles above the Rio Negro, Brazil.) 

 Cathartes aura "Illig." d'Orbigny, Voy. Amer. Merid., vol. 4, Oiseaux, 1834, 



pp. 38-42, pi. 1, fig. 3. (Amerique meridionale et s'etend meme dans I'Amerique 



du nord. Apres I'avoir perdu de vue au 28.e degre de latitude sud dans la 



province de Corrientes, nous ne I'avons plus retrouve que dans la Patagonie, 



au 41. e degre.") 

 Cathartes orbignyi Sztolcman, Ann. Mus. Polonici Hist. Nat., vol. 4, no. 3, 



Dec. 1, 1925, p. 322. (Based on d'Orbigny, cit. supra.) 



Characters. — Definitely blacker above and below than the northern 

 subspecies C. a. septentrionalis, C. a. aura, and C. a. meridionalis; 

 under surface of body decidedly black ; borders of wing coverts very 

 dark brown, darker than in aura; in life, head and neck dull red, 

 with several distinct transverse yellowish white or greenish white 

 Hnes across the posterior surface of the crown and the nape; adult 

 usually with an irregular area of )^ellowish white in the center of the 

 crown. 



Measurements. — Males (18 specimens), wing 476-508 (490), tail 

 235-265 (254, average of 17), culmen from cere 21.9-24.3 (23.2, 

 average of 16), tarsus 60.0-64.9 (62.4, average of 17) mm. 



Females (21 specimens), wing 475-509 (491), tail 235-264 (247), 

 culmen from cere 22.3-26.6 (23.7, average of 20), tarsus 60.4-68.0 

 (63.8, average of 20) mm. 



Range. — Throughout the tropical zone in Panama; on the Pacific 

 slope from near the Costa Rican boundary in western Chiriqui (in- 

 cluding Isla Coiba, Isla Taboga, and the Archipielago de las Perlas), 

 and on the Caribbean side from the Canal Zone eastward ; across north- 

 ern Colombia (specimens seen from Cordoba, Antioquia, Bolivar, 

 Magdalena, and Guajira) ; and from northern Venezuela south 

 through South America east of the Andes to northern Argentina 

 (Formosa, Chaco, Santa Fe), Uruguay, and southern Brazil; west 

 to southeastern Colombia, eastern Peru, and eastern Bolivia : North- 

 ern limit in Central America uncertain, probably in Costa Rica. 



