376 CATHARTICS, AMERICAN VULTURES. 



to merit serious refutation;" but we see nothing improbable in it. 

 "When the Gallinazos are deprived of carrion," he says, "they are 

 driven by hunger among the cattle of the pastures. If they see a beast 

 with a sore on its back, they alight on it and attack the part affected ; 

 and it avails not that the poor animal throws itself on the ground and 

 endeavors to intimidate them by its bellowing ; they do not quit their 

 bold, and by means of their bill they so enlarge the wound that the ani- 

 mal finally becomes their prey." It is well attested that Eavens, and 

 even Magpies, during seasons of scarcity, alight on sore-backed animals 

 to pick at the raw flesh and torture the creatures, if they do not actually 

 destroy them. 



The Condor of the Andes (Sarcorhamplms gryphus) is one of the larg- 

 est, and otherwise the most distinguished, species of American Vultures. 

 It has been attributed by Bonaparte and Nuttall to the United States, 

 but the evidence is not good. They seemed to have relied upon the 

 statements of Lewis and Clarke, which undoubtedly related to the Cal- 

 ifornian Vulture, not the Condor. Yet it is probable that we have a true 

 Sarcorliamphus in this country, in addition to the three species of Ga- 

 thartes. I have collected some information upon these points that I 

 cannot refrain from presenting. We have first to notice the Sacred 

 Vulture of Bartram (Vultur sacra), described by this author in his 

 "Travels in Florida" (p. 150) : 



"The bill is long and straight, almost to the point, where it is hooked 

 or bent suddenly down, and sharp ; the head and neck bare of feathers 

 nearly down to the stomach, where the feathers begin to cover the skin, 

 and soon become long and of a soft texture, forming a ruff or tippet, in 

 which the bird, by contracting his neck, can hide that as well as his 

 head ; the bare skin on the neck appears loose and wrinkled, which is 

 of a bright-yellow color, intermixed with coral red ; the hinder part of 

 the neck is nearly covered with short, stiff hair, and the skin of this 

 part of the neck is of a dun-purple color, gradually becoming red as it 

 approaches the yellow of the sides of the forepart. The crown of the 

 head is red ; there are lobed lappets of a reddish-orange color, which lay 

 on the base of the upper mandible. The plumage of the bird is gener 

 ally white or cream color, except the quill-feathers of the wings and two 

 or three rows of coverts, which are beautiful dark brown ; the tail, which 

 is rather large and white, is tipped with this dark brown or black ; the 

 legs and feet are of a clear white ; the eye is encircled with a gold-col- 

 ol'ed iris, the pupil black." As Mr. Allen has remarked, in carefully 

 reviewing the subject, this is probably a mythical species, some facts in 

 connection with Haliaetus leucocephalus and Polyborus tliarus being mixed 

 in Bartram's mind with some of his ideas respecting the King Vulture. 



The King Vulture {Sarcorhamphus papa) is a well-known inhabitant 

 of the warm parts of America, and has also been attributed to the 

 United States ; but accounts of its occurrence within our limits require 

 confirmation. Nuttall gave it in his Manual (i, p. 40), but so he did, 

 also, several other birds that we know are not found in our country. 

 Still it is a Mexican species, that may stray into Texas, Arizona, or 

 Southern California. I am, in fact, convinced that this, or a closely- 

 allied species, does occur in Arizona — a large Vukure, not the Condor, 

 nor the Californian, nor yet any of the smaller species of Gathartes. As 

 the determination is a matter of prime consequence, I may be allowed 

 to present the following considerations : 



In Dr. Brewer's edition of Wilson (p. 671) the following extract is 

 made from Clavijero"s History of Mexico (Cullen's translation), i, p. 47: 

 "The business of clearing the fields of Mexico is reserved principally 



