254 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
Order XII. RAPTORES. Birds of Prey. 
Members of this order are at once recognizable by a glance at the structure 
of the bill and feet, various though the modifications of these parts may be. 
The strongly hooked bill, provided with a cere, only occurs elsewhere among 
parrots, and there the feet are totally different, being ‘ yoke-toed”, as in 
cuckoos and woodpeckers, two toes pointing forward and two always back- 
ward, while in birds of prey either three toes point forward permanently, 
as in all the diurnal Raptores except the Osprey, or the outer toe is versatile, 
that is, may be turned in either direction, as in the Osprey and all owls. 
In any case the claws or talons are long, curved and sharp, and in all except 
the American Vultures they are extremely acute and flexibly jointed to 
the toes, so that the feet become powerful weapons for grasping, piercing 
and killing the living prey on which these birds mainly subsist. 
Three suborders are recognized, separable as follows: 
KEY TO SUBORDERS. 
A. Head and part of neck without feathers (Fig. 67). Suborder Sarcor- 
hamphi. American Vultures. Page 254. 
AA. Head well feathered. B, BB. 
B. Eyes placed at the sides of the head so that the two eyes never 
look in the same direction. Suborder Falcones. Diurnal 
Birds of Prey. Page 257. 
BB. Eyes directed forward so that both look in the same direction, 
surrounded by disks of radiating feathers, the so-called facial 
disks. Suborder Striges. Owls. 
Suborder SARCORHAMPHI. American Vultures. 
Family 36. CATHARTIDAS. Buzzards or Vultures. 
Only a single Michigan species, the Turkey Buzzard. 
The family (and suborder) is characterized by the naked head, perforate 
nostrils, short hind toe inserted a little above the level of the three front 
toes, and the somewhat blunt and not strongly curved claws. The whole 
structure of the foot is adapted rather for walking or standing than for 
grasping and killing as in most other Raptores. 
130. Turkey Buzzard. Cathartes aura septentrionalis Wied. (325) 
Synonyms: Turkey Vulture, Vulture, Buzzard, Carrion Crow.—Cathartes septen- 
trionalis, Wied., 1839.—Vultur aura, Jinn., 1766, and the older authors generally.— 
Cathartes aura, Illig., 1811, and most recent writers.—Rhinogryphus aura, Ridgw., 1875. 
Figures 67 and 68. 
The large size, long, rounded tail, and head entirely naked or merely 
downy, serve to separate this bird from all others. 
Distribution.—Temperate North America, from New Jersey, Ohio Valley, 
