NO. D REVISION OF AMERICAN VULTURES — V^'ETMORE I7 



For the extension of range to eastern Peru I am indebted to 

 John P. O'Neill and Dr. George H. Lowery, Jr. It is probable that 

 this species ranges also to northeastern Bolivia. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS CATHARTES 



1. Bare skin of the side and front of the neck at the base smooth ; upper hind- 



neck in adult not feathered ; bare skin of head and upper neck in adult birds 

 in life dull red, usually plain, but in the subspecies ruficollis v/ith several 

 narrow lines of yellowish or greenish white across the back of the 

 cranium Cathartes aura 



Bare skin of the side and front of the neck at the base with numerous 

 caruncles, prominent in life ; in museum specimens visible as small, wart- 

 like projections; hindneck in adult feathered to near the base of the 

 cranium ; bare skin of head and upper neck in adult birds in life yellow and 

 orange varied by markings of blue 2 



2. Back and wings with many feathers tipped and edged prominently with dull 



grayish brown ; under surface more brownish black ; definitely smaller, with 

 tail shorter, not more than 240 mm. long ; rectrices, especially the central 

 pair, less than 52 mm. wide Cathartes bnrroviatnis 



Plumage deep black throughout, with prominent greenish or bluish reflec- 

 tions ; decidedly larger, with tail longer, 250 to 280 mm. or more ; rectrices, 

 especially the central pair, 59-70 mm. wide.. .Cathartes metambrotus sp. nov. 



Details of the characters that mark subspecies are given in the main text. 



LITERATURE CITED 



AzARA, Felix de 



1802. Apuntamientos para la historia natural de los paxaros del Paragiiay 

 y Rio de la Plata. Vol. 1, pp. i-xx, 1-534. 

 Dresser, H. E. 



1865. Notes on the birds of southern Texas. Ibis, n.s., vol. 1, no. 3, July, 

 pp. 312-330. 

 DuGAND, Armando 



1941. Adiciones a la lista de aves conocidas en Colombia. Caldasia, no. 3, 

 Dec. 15, pp. 53-61. 



1951. Descubrimiento de Cathartes burrovianus Cassin en Colombia. Rev. 



Acad. Colombiana Cienc. Exact. Fis. Nat., vol. 8, no. 30, April, 

 pp. 154-156. 



1952. Observaciones adicionales sobre Cathartes burrovianus y Cathartes 



urubitinga. Lozania (Act. Zool. Colombiana), no. 2, June 30, 

 pp. 1-4. 

 Graber, Richard R., and Graber, Jean W. 



1954. Yellow-headed vulture in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Condor, vol. 56, 

 no. 3, May 21, pp. 165-166. 



