82 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



interior toe. Wing long; first quill shorter than the sixth; second and 

 third shorter than the fourth, which is longest. 



Size approaching that of the wild turkey, which it resembles in its 

 gait. Total length about fifty-two inches. Sa taille est de quarante- 

 liuit pouces, approchant celle du Dindon sauvage, auquel il ressemble 

 par sa demarche." 



Hab. — St. Jago de Cuba, Hayti, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Borders of 

 the Orinoco River. 



Obs. — This large vulture is described as above by M. Des Murs, on 

 the authority of M. Riccord, a scientific traveller, who observed it at 

 the localities given above and at some others. He states that it inhabits 

 only the Spanish and English parts of the islands mentioned, and fre- 

 quents especially the towns and cities. This vulture is unknown to 

 naturalists, and its further investigation is a point of much interest. 



3. Cathartes aura [Linnaeus). — The Turkey Buzzard. The 



Turkey Vulture. 



Vultur aura, LiNN. Syst. Nat. I, p. 122 (1766). 



Cathartes septentrionalis, De Wied, Travels in N. A. I, p. 162 (1839). 



Catesby, Nat. Hist. Carolina, I, Plate VI ; Vieillot, Ois. d'Am. Sept. 

 I, Plate II ; Wilson, Am. Orn. IX, Plate LXXV, fig. 1 ; Audubon, 

 B. of Am. Plate CLI ; Oct. ed. I, Plate 2. 



Plumage commencing on the neck with a ruff of rather long and 

 projecting feathers. Head and upper part of neck naked, or with 

 scattering down-like feathers, especially on the top of the head, and 

 with the skin Avrinkled ; nostrils large, oval, communicating with each 

 other ; tail rather long, rounded. 



Entire plumage brownish-black ; darker on the neck, back, and tail 

 above ; many feathers having a purple and bluish lustre, and edged 

 Avith pale-brown. Bill yellowish-white; wings and tail paler beneath; 

 head and neck bright-red. 



Total length about thirty inches ; wing twenty-three inches ; tail 

 twelve inches. 



