THE TURKEY YULTUR-E. 165 



Ridgway, near Mount Carmel, Illinois, May 6, 1878. No. 21574, from a set of 

 two (PI. 4, Fig. 3), was taken near Ilchester, Maryland, on May 30, 1884, by 

 Mr. C. W. Beckham. 



59. Catharista atrata (Bartram). 



BLACK VULTURE. 



Vultur atratus Bartram, Travels in Carolina, 1792, 285. 

 Catharista atrata Gray, Handlung 1, 1869, 3. 



(B 3, C 360, R 455, C 538, U 326). 



Geographical range : Whole of tropical and warm temperate America, south 

 to Argentinj Republic and Chile, north regularly to North Carolina and Lower Mis- 

 sissippi Valley, western Texas ; irregularly or casualty to Maine, New York, Ohio, 

 Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, and South Dakota. 



The Black Vulture or Carrion Crow has a much more restricted distribution 

 than the preceding species. It is less roving than the former and is generally 

 a constant resident wherever found, except in the extreme northern portion of 

 its range. It is also far more abundant on the seaboard than in the interior. 



The breeding range of this Vulture may be defined as follows: On the Atlan- 

 tic coast, from southern North Carolina, southward tlu-ough the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf States. In the interior it has been found breeding in both southex'n 

 Indiana and southern Illinois, but seems to be very irregularly distributed. It 

 occasionall}' straggles into southern Ohio, and specimens have been taken in 

 New York, and even in Maine. It has also been found breeding in Kansas, but 

 on a single occasion only, as far as known. In Texas it is a summer resident 

 in the central and ^^-estern parts of the State, and in the southern portions 

 it is found throughout the year. 



Mr. William Lloj'd found it breeding near San Angelo, Tom Green 

 Coimty, in June, 1884, and he writes me in this connection as follows: "A 

 strange habit of both the Black and the Turkey Vulture in western Texas is 

 the fact that though abundant in summer, in winter we are left without a single 

 one. This is not due to lack of carrion, for every winter the place is full of 

 dead cattle, nor to temperature, for here in Presidio County it rarely freezes. 

 The altitude, too, is rather less than in Concho County and the Staked Plains, 

 where the same state of affairs obtains. Then why is it that this bird, and 

 especially the Turkey Vulture, which is well known to winter much farther 

 north in other regions, is entirely absent from the bend of the Rio Grande and 

 the Concho Valley during this season?" 



The Black Vulture is only conmion in the southern parts of the United 

 States, usually outnumbering the Turkey Vulture near the seashore and being 

 outnumbered l)y the latter in the interior. It rarely breeds north of lati- 

 tude 36°. 



In its habits it differs but little from the Turkey Vulture. It is not nearly 

 so graceful a bird on the wing as the latter, its flight being much heavier and 

 apparently laborious, and is accompanied by considerable flapping of the wings. 



