The Turkey Vulture 



Of course, there is more to be said about the Condor. We have 

 discoursed, instead, perhaps to our undoing, of law and scenery and aero- 

 nautics. But the Condor deserves a volume to himself. He should have 

 a biographer duly appointed by the State and given full jurisdiction over 

 Condor territory. It would be a social service well worth the effort if 

 some painstaking and devoted admirer of this noble bird would spend six 

 years in an exhaustive study of the Condor afield. Only so shall we ever 

 have an adequate account of one of Nature's most impressive, aye, majes- 

 tic children. And such a study will have to be undertaken, if at all, 

 within the decade. 



No. 340 



Turkey Vulture 



A. O. U. No. 325. Cathartes aura septentrionalis YVied. 



Synonym. — Turkey Buzzard. 



Description. — Adult: Head and neck all around naked, livid crimson; above 

 lustrous black with purple and violet reflections, varied by grayish brown edgings of 

 feathers; plumage changing below to more uniform sooty brown, lustrous only on 

 breast; wing-quills and rectrices light dusky below, with whitish shafts; primaries 

 deeply emarginate, the tips considerably separated in flight, very flexible; iris brownish 

 gray: bill dull white; cere bright red. Young: Similar, but dusky on head and neck, 

 with downy grayish brown feathers; bill blackish. Nestlings: Covered with heavy 

 white down, but head naked, — light bluish black. Length 685.8-812.8 (27.00-32.00); 

 extent about six feet; wing 558.8 (22.00); tail 292.1 (11.50); bill including cere 55.9 

 (2.20); tarsus 65 (2.56). 



Recognition Marks. — Eagle size or less; naked red head; black plumage 

 nearly uniform; soaring flight. 



Nesting. — Nest: In hollow trees, stumps or fallen logs, or in crannies of cliffs; 

 unlined. Eggs: 2; elliptical-ovate, dull white, greenish or buffy white, spotted and 

 blotched irregularly with rich dark brown. Av. size 71. 1 x 49.5 (2.80 x 1.95). Season: 

 April to May; one brood. 



Range of Cathartes aura. — North and South America from southern Canadian 

 Provinces south to Patagonia and the Falkland Islands. 



Range of C. a. septentrionalis. — North America from the southern portions of 

 the western Canadian Provinces, southwestern Ontario, southern New York, and New 

 Jersey, south to northern Mexico and southern Lower California, wintering easterly 

 in all except the northern portion of its range, but in the West retiring as far as Nebraska 

 and California. 



Distribution in California. — Resident south of the Tehachipe and casually 

 north (or perhaps winter visitors) to Vaca Valley, Solano County (Grinnell). Else- 

 where found commonly in spring, summer, and fall throughout the State, save in Boreal 

 zone. Most abundant in warmer sections, and breeding almost exclusively in Upper 

 Sonoran zone. 



Authorities. — Gambel (Cathartes aura), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., iii.. 1846, 

 p. 44 (Calif.); Tyler, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 9, 1913, p. 37 (San Joaquin Valley). 



1736 



