VULTURID^. d 



the tips of the greater coverts. The tail is black to the extremity. The feathers clothing the 

 lower part of the neck, and those on the breast, have each a narrow, pale, shining streak 

 along its shaft, which contributes to give them a more pointed appearance. There is a white 

 longitudinal band on the flank, and a broader one, opposite to it, on the lining of the wing, 

 that includes the whole of the greater inner coverts. Thighs black. Bill glossy yellow. 

 " Irides pale red, and the pupils light green." A triangular space, between the nostrils and 

 crown of the head, is rather thinly clothed with short black hairy feathers ; and there are 

 also a few feathers on the lores, but the rest of the head and neck is covered with smooth 

 naked skin, which, on the former, " has a deep orange colour, and on the latter a brownish- 

 yellow, with bluish changeable tints." Legs bluish-black. 



Form, &c. — The head is small, scarcely exceeding the neck in diameter. The bill is three 

 inches and a half long ; the riu'ge of the upper mandible is straight, and is produced to its 

 hooked tip, nearly in the same line with the flattish crown of the head ; its cutting margin is un- 

 dulated, there being an obtuse lobe immediately anterior to the cere ; and another smaller one, 

 but equally well marked, on the horny part of the mandible. The line of union of the point 

 of the bdl with the cere, is deeply indented, the former sending an angular process backwards 

 towards each nostril. The angle of the mouth does not extend quite so far back as the orbit. 

 The nostrils, of an oblong-oval form, are longitudinal, with a slight degree of obliquity, and 

 are situated rather nearer the ridge of the mandible than to its cutting margin. The auditory 

 opening is semi-oval and naked. The feathers on the base of the neck have lengthened lan- 

 ceolate tips, and those immediately adjoining the naked skin stand out, so as to form a kind of 

 nuT, from which there is a gradual transition to the smooth-lying plumage of the breast. All 

 these feathers have detached flexible barbs, their tips alone being more compact. The naked 

 skin extends down to the crop on the forepart of the neck, but it is not so conspicuous below 

 as in the Black Vulture {Cathartes atratus), being nearly concealed by the ruff just mentioned. 

 The folded wings reach a little beyond the tail ; the third quill feather is the longest. The tail 

 is even, and consists of fourteen feathers, which are rounded at the ends. The tarsi are naked, 

 and are protected anteriorly by large oblong transverse scales, or scufelli. The toes are long and 

 slender, and are scutellated above, nearly their whole length. The middle one is the longest, 

 and it is connected to the lateral ones at the base by webs. The hind toe is short. The nails 

 are short, and slightly curved. 



Dimensions, 

 Copied from Mr. Douglas. 



Length .... 



Circumference of the body . 

 Length of the lieak . 



Circumference of the head . 

 Length of the neck 



Dimensions 

 Of the larger specimen when mounted. 



Length from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail 48 Length of the bill, following its curve from tip to 

 „ of the tail . . . .16 nostrils ..... 



,, of the bill from the angle of the mouth . 3 



B 2 



Inches. 

 56 



Circumference of the neck . 



Inches. 

 9 



40 



3£ 



9 

 11 



Length of the body 



Extent between the tips of the wings, (!) : 

 Length of the tarsus 

 ,, of the tail . 



24 



ft. Sin.) 116 

 4J 

 15 



