220 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Genus PSEUDOGRYPHUS Eidgway. (Page 219, pi. LXIV., fig. 4.) 



Species. 



Adult: Dull black, the outer webs of greater wing-coverts and secondaries 

 hoary grayish, the former tipped and the latter edged with white; axillars and 

 under wing-coverts pure white ; bill whitish or pale yellowish, and naked skin of 

 head and neck yellowish or orange in life. Young : Similar to adult, but feathers 

 of upper parts more distinctly bordered with brownish (producing a squamate ap- 

 pearance), the outer webs of greater wing-coverts and secondaries dusky, and with- 

 out any white on axillars or under wing-coverts ; bill and naked skin of head and 

 neck dusky, the latter more or less covered with soft sooty grayish down. Downy 

 young : Dull white, the naked skin of head and neck dull yellow. Length 44.00- 

 55.00 inches, extent 8| to nearly 11 feet, weight 20 to 25 pounds, wing 30.00-35.00 

 inches, tail 15.00-18.00, culmen 1.50, tarsus 4.40-5.00, middle toe 4.00-4.50. Nest a 

 cavity or recess among rocks or a hollow in stump, log, or tree-trunk. Eggs 1-2, 

 4.46 X 2.48, elongate-ovate, plain pale dull grayish green or dull greenish white. 

 Hab. Pacific coast of United States, north to the Columbia ; southern" Utah ? (Now 

 much reduced in numbers, and extinct in many localities where formerly abun- 

 dant.) 324. P. californianus (Shaw). California Vulture. 



Genus CATHARTES Illiger. (Page 219, pi. LX., fig. 2 ; pi. LXIY., figs. 6, 8.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — General color black, uniform on lower parts (sometimes 

 on upper parts also) ; bill white, and naked skin of head reddish or yellowish in 

 adult, both dusky in young. 



a 1 . Upper portion of neck, all round, naked ; wing 20.00, or more. 



b 1 . Plumage of upper parts grayish brown, the feathers glossy blackish cen- 

 trally, the secondaries edged with grayish or whitish ; naked skin of 

 head (in adult) livid crimson in life. 



Adult : Neck and lower parts uniform dull black ; upper parts black- 

 ish, with a greenish and violet gloss, the feathers of the back, the 

 scapulars, and wing-coverts with margins broadly (but not abruptly) 

 light grayish brown ; edge of secondaries light grayish brown, vary- 

 ing to light ashy ; shafts of quills and tail-feathers pale brown, vary- 

 ing to yellowish white ; bill chalk- white ; iris grayish brown ; naked 

 skin of head and upper neck (in life) dull livid crimson, brightening 

 to lake-red on cere, the lores and top of head sometimes with whitish 

 wart-like papillae. Young : Similar to adult, but bill blackish, and 

 naked skin of head and neck livid dusky, and the brownish margins 

 to wing-coverts, etc., less distinct. Downy young: Covered with 

 pure white cottony down, the head, however, naked, and sallow 

 dusky. Length 26.00-32.00, extent about 6 feet, wing 20.00-23.00 



