189. 
536. 
190. 
508 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — CATHARTIDES. 
Analysis of Genera, 
Head and neck entirely naked; tail square iP ey wis Hed Se ce oe . . . « Pseudogryphus 189 
Head and upper part of neck naked; tailrounded. . . . .... ip tratet de ae Os Cathartes 190 
Head naked, but feathers running up to it behind; tailsquare . . .... . . . + Catharista 191 
Pseudogry'phus. (Gr. peidos, pseudos, false; Lat. gryphus, a griffin.) CALIFORNIAN 
Conpor. Size immense, about equalling that of the Condor. Head and neck entirely bare, 
smooth, without caruncular appendages. No cervical ruff of snowy, downy feathers; plumage 
beginning over the shoulders 
with loose lance-linear feathers, 
and that of the under parts 
generally of similar character. 
Frontal region depressed below 
the level of the inflated cere, 
but the general profile straight- 
ish from the hook of the bill 
to the hind head. Bill wide 
and deep, comparatively little 
hooked. Nasal passage much 
more contracted than the nasal 
fossa. Wings of great ampli- 
tude, folding to or beyond the 
end of the square tail, the ends 
of the primaries uncovered by 
the secondaries; 4th or 5th 
quills longest. Tarsus about 
as long as middle toe. One 
species. es 
P, california/nus. (Of Cali- * 
fornia. Fig. 386.) CaAiror- 
nrAN Conpor. Adult ¢ 9: 
Blackish, the feathers with 
browner tips or edges, quite 
gray or even whitish on the 
wing-coverts and inner quills; 
primaries and _ tail - feathers 
black; axillars and lining of 
wings white; bill yellowish, 
reddening on cére, and skin of the head orange or reddish; iris said by some to be brown, by 
others carmine. Length 4—44 feet; extent about 94 feet; wing 24-3 feet; tail 14-14 feet; 
tarsus 4.50-5.00 inches; middle toe without claw 4.00-4.50; middle claw 1.90; hind claw 
1.50; chord of culmen without cere about 1.50, but whole bill about 4.00, whole head about 
7.00 ; cere on top nearly 3.00. Young with the bill and naked parts dusky, and more or less 
downy; plumage without white. Nestlings covered with whitish down. Pacific coast region, 
U.S. and southward, common. This great creature rivals the condor in size, and like it is 
powerful enough to destroy young or otherwise helpless animals, though its usual food is carrion. 
The nidification, as described, is like that of the turkey buzzard; but the eggs are whitish, 
unmarked. They measure about 4502.50. The general habits appear to be the same as 
those of the turkey buzzard; the flight is similar. 
CATHAR'TES. (Gr. xaOaprys, kathartes, a purifier.) Turkey Buzzarps. Of medium 
size; body slender. Whole head and upper part of neck naked, the plumage beginning as a 
Fig. 386, — Californian Condor. (From Tenney, after Audubon.) 
