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APPENDIX. 



TURKEY BUZZARD. 



Cathabtes Aura, Illiger. 



PLATE CLI. Vol. II. p. 296. 



The Turkey Buzzard was found in abundance on the Rocky Moun- 

 tains and along the Columbia River by Lewis and Clark, as well as 

 subsequently by Dr Tow^send, although it is said by Mr David 

 Douglas to be extremely rare on the north-west coast of America. On 

 the Island of Galveston in Texas, where it is plentiful, we several 

 times foimd its nest, as usual, on the groimd, but on level parts of 

 salt marshes, either under the wide-spread branches of cactuses, or 

 among tall grass growing beneath low bushes, on which Herons of dif- 

 ferent species also bred, their young supplying a plentiful store of 

 food for those of the Vultures. The eggs, which never exceed two in 

 number, measure two inches and seven-eighths in length, and one inch 

 and seven and a half eighths in their greatest breadth. 



An adult female, from Charleston in South Carolina, preserved in 

 spirits, presents the following characters. The most remarkable cir- 

 cumstances relative to its external aspect are these : — The skin of 

 the head, as well as of the neck for a third of its length, is trans- 

 versely rugous, and sparsely covered with very small bristly feathers. 

 The anterior part of the neck below this, and as far as the furcula, is 

 quite bare. The external nostrils are very large, oblong, 6 twelfths 

 in length, pervious, but having the entrance into the nasal cavities small. 

 The aperture of the ear is rather small, its diameter being only 3 

 twelfths. The eyes are of moderate size, their aperture being 5 twelfths. 



