
134 TURKEY VULTURE. 
the space is covered with down of a sooty black colour ; the 
fore part of the neck is bare as far as the breast-bone, the 
skin on the lower part, or pouch, very much wrinkled; this 
naked skin is not discernible without removing the plumage 
which arches over it ; the whole lower parts, lining of the 
wings, rump, and tail-coverts, are of a sooty brown, the feathers 
of the belly and vent hairy ; the plumage of the neck is large 
and tumid, and, with that of the back and shoulders, black ; 
the scapulars and secondaries are black on their outer webs, 
skirted with tawny brown, the latter slightly tipped with 
white ; primaries and their coverts, plain brown, the former 
pointed, third primary the longest ; coverts of the secondaries 
and lesser coverts, tawny brown centred with black—some of 
the feathers at their extremities slightly edged with white ; 
the tail is twelve inches long, rounded, of a brownish black, 
and composed of twelve feathers, which are broad at their 
extremities; inside of wings and tail, light ash; the wings 
reach to the end of the tail; the whole body and neck beneath 
the plumage are thickly clothed with a white down, which 
feels like cotton; the shafts of the primaries are yellowish 
white above, and those of the tail brown, both pure white 
below; the plumage of the neck, back, shoulders, scapulars, 
and secondaries is glossed with green and bronze, and has 
purple reflections ; the thighs are feathered to the knees ; feet 
considerably webbed ; middle toe three inches and a half in 
length, and about an inch and a half longer than the outer 
one, which is the next longest; the sole of the foot is hard 
and rough; claws, dark horn colour; the legs are of a pale 
flesh colour, and three inches long. The claws are larger, but 
the feet slenderer than those of the carrion crow. The bill of 
the male is pure white; in some specimens the upper man- 
dible is tipped with black. There is little or no perceptible 
difference between the sexes, 
The bird from which the foregoing description was taken 
was shot for this work, at Great Eee Harbour, on the 30th of 
January. It was a female, in perfect plumage, excessively fat, 

