Vol. g] Miller: Condor-like Vultures of Bancho La Brea. 



1!) 



I am very deeply indebted to Dr. Wm. J. Sinclair of the 

 geological department of Princeton University for a careful 

 comparison of the type specimen with a large specimen of 

 Sarcorhamphus gryphus taken near Coy Inlet, Patagonia, and 

 at present in the collection at Princeton. The fossil form is but 

 slightly larger than the Princeton specimen but its other char- 

 acters show the species to be totally different. Sarcorhamphus 

 resembles very closely the California Gymnogyps, except for its 

 greater size. The high intercotylar tuberosity, the wide excava- 

 tion of the shaft in front at the proximal end where the internal 

 and external proximal foramina are widely separated, the 

 anteroposterior flattening of the shaft and the distribution of 

 its intermuscular ridges, the positon and configuration of the 

 hypotarsus — all these points ally Sarcorphamphus gryphus very 

 closely with Gymnogyps calif ornianus and distinguish it abso- 

 lutely from any of the fossil forms. 



In view of the conditions favoring the existence of a large 

 number and variety of condor-like forms during the Pleistocene 

 and of the many instances of known intermigrations of North 

 and South American forms, it is interesting to note the absence 

 thus far of Sarcorhamphus gryphus and Gypagus papa from the 

 asphalt collections. There seems little or no evidence of migra- 

 tion of individuals of these large species, yet within the time of 

 ornithological record both the South and the North American 

 species have been forms of widely extended range. 



The figures reproduced in this paper are from drawings by 

 Mrs. Louise Nash. 



