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CALIFORNIAN VULTURE. 



Cathartes californianus, Illiger. 



PLATE CCCCXXVI. 



Of the three species of Vulture which inhabit the southern parts 

 of North America, this is so much superior in size to the rest that it 

 bears to them the same proportion as a Golden Eagle to a Goshawk. 

 It inhabits the valleys and plains of the western slope of the continent, 

 and has not been observed to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains. 

 Dr TowNSEND, who has had opportunities of observing it, has favoured 

 me with the following account of its habits. 



" The Californian Vulture inhabits the region of the Columbia 

 River, to the distance of five hundred miles from its mouth, and is most 

 abundant in spring, at which season it feeds on the dead salmon that 

 are thrown upon the shores in great numbers. It is also often met with 

 near the Indian villages, being attracted by the offal of the fish thrown 

 around the habitations. It associates with Cathartes Aura, but is easily 

 distinguished from that species in flight, both by its greater size, and 

 the more abrupt curvature of its wing. The Indians, whose observa- 

 tions may generally be depended upon, say that it ascertains the pre- 

 sence of food solely by its power of vision, thus corroborating your own 

 remarks on the vulture tribe generally. On the upper waters of the 

 Columbia the fish intended for winter store are usually deposited in 

 huts made of the branches of trees interlaced. I have frequently seen 

 the Ravens attempt to effect a lodgement in these deposits, but have 

 never known the Vulture to be engaged in this way, although these 

 birds were numerous in the immediate vicinity." 



In a subsequent notice, he continues : — " I have never seen the 

 eggs of the Californian Vulture. The Indians of the Columbia say 

 that it breeds on the ground, fixing its nest in swamps under the pine 

 forests, chiefly in the Alpine country. The Wahlamet Mountains, 

 seventy or eighty miles south of the Columbia, are said to be its favomi-ite 

 places of resort. I have never visited the mountains at that season, and 

 therefore cannot speak from my own knowledge. It is seen on the 

 Columbia only in summer, appearing about the first of June, and re- 



