CATHARTIDA): AMERICAN VULTURES. 559 
circlet of ordinary feathers all around the neck; the naked skin corrugated and sparsely beset 
with bristles, especially a patch before the eye. Bill long, moderately stout and hooked, the 
nostrils large, elliptical, completely pervious, the cere contracted opposite them. Wings 
extremely long, not particularly broad, pointed, folding beyond the tail, which is short and 
rounded. Point of the wing formed by 3d or 4th quill; 2d and 5th nearly as long; 1st much 
shorter ; outer 4 or 5 emarginate on inner webs. Tarsus about as long as middle toe without 
claw. Of Cathartes as restricted there are several species described, but only one is estab- 
lished as N. Am. They are noted for their extraordinary powers of sailing flight. , 
837. C. aura. (Vox barb., name of the bird. Fig. 387.) TurKey Buzzarpv. Adult g 9: 
- wN 
a f AS 
A Xs 
SN 
WX. 
oe 
Uf 
SAN 
Ss 
Y 
: 
— 
gre \ 
J Fig. 387. — Turkey Buzzard, } nat. size. (From Brehm.) 
Blackish-brown, grayer on the wing-coverts; quills black, ashy-gray on their under surface ; 
tail black, with pale brown shafts. Head red, from livid crimson to pale carmine, with whitish 
specks usually; bill dead white; feet flesh-colored; iris brown. Length 24-24 feet; extent 
about 6 feet; wing 2 feet or less; tail a foot or less; tarsus 2.25 inches; middle toe without 
claw rather more ; outer toe 1.50; inner 1.25; hind 0.75; chord of culmen without cere 1.00. 
‘Weight 4-5 pounds. Young darker than the adults; bill and skin of head dark, the latter 
downy. Nestlings covered with whitish down. U. S. and adjoining provinces, Atlantic to 
Pacific, and south clear through C. and 8. Am.; N. to about 53°; resident N. to about 40°, 
beyond which migratory, being starved out in winter. Nests on the ground, or near it in 
hollow stumps or logs, generally in communities. Eggs commonly 2, sometimes 1, about 
