CATHARTIDES: AMEBIC AN 
VULTUliES. 
557 
amounts of the dark and white colors; young darker, the upper parts without the wliite 
crescents. Bill blackisli, bluing at base and on cere ; feet grayish-blue ; claws black ; iris 
yellow or red. Length 2 feet or rather less ; extent about 4i feet ; wing 17.50-21.50 ; tail 
8.50-10.50; tarsus 2.25 ; middle toe without claw 1.75 ; chord of culmen without cere 1.30; 
chord of claws nearly the same. Nearly cosmopolitan; entire temperate N. Am., over inland 
waters and especially along the sea-coasts, migratory, abundant. Few birds are better known 
than this industrious fisherman, so often the purveyor perforce of the bald eagle. Breeds 
anywhere in its range; nest bulky, finally acquiring enormous dimensions by yearly repairs and 
additions, placed usually in a tree or stout bush, sometimes on rocks or the ground ; sometimes 
hundreds together. Eggs usually laid in May, 2 or 3 in number, very variable in size, say 
2.50X1-75, running through all the variations in color common to hawks' eggs, from a white to 
creamy, tawny or reddish ground, from few brownish markings to heaviest blotching with 
sienna, umber, bistre and sepia ; coloration usually richly reddish or mahogany. Some nests 
grow to be 6 or 8 feet in diameter, and as much in depth, and smaller birds, such as purple 
grackles, frequently build theirs in the interstices of the mass. 
8. Suborder CATHARTIDES : American Vultures. 
As already stated (page 497), the characters of this group are of more than family value, 
for which I lately proposed the above name (New England Bird Life, vol. ii, p. 135). In no 
event have these birds anything to do with the Old World vultures, which scarcely form a sub- 
family apart from Falconidcs. In a certain sense, they represent the gallinaceous type of 
structure ; our species of Cathartes, for instance, bears a curious superficial resemblance to a 
turkey. They lack the strength and spirit of typical Raptores, and rarely attack animals 
capable of oflFeriug resistance ; they are voracious and indiscrhninate gormandizers of carrion 
and animal refuse of all sorts — efficient and almost indispensable scavengers in the warm 
countries where they abound. They are uncleanly in their mode of feeding ; the nature of 
their food renders them ill-scented, and when disturbed they eject the foetid contents of the crop. 
Although not truly gregarious, they assemble in multitudes where food is plenty, and some 
species breed in communities. When gorged, they appear heavy and indisposed to exertion, 
usually passing the period of digestion motionless, in a listless attitude, with the wings half- 
spread. But they spend much of the time on wing, circling high in the air ; their flight is easy 
and graceful in the extreme, and capable of being indefinitely protracted. On the ground, 
they habitually walk instead of progressing by leaps. Possessing no vocal apparatus, these 
vultures are almost mute, emitting only a weak hissing sound. 
33. Family CATHARTID^ : American Vultures. 
See page 497. Head, and part of the neck, more or less completely bare of feathers, 
sometimes caruncular ; eyes flush with the side of the head, not overshadowed by a super- 
ciliary shield ; ears small and simple. Bill lengthened, contracted toward the base, moderately 
hooked and comparatively weak. Nostrils very large, completely perforated, through lack of 
a bony septum. Wings very long, ample, and strong; tail moderate. Anterior toes long for 
this order, webbed at base ; hind toe elevated, very short ; claws comparatively lengthened, 
obtuse, little curved and weak. To these external characters, which distinguish our vultures, 
I may add, that there are numerous osteological peculiarities. A lower larynx is not de- 
veloped. The capacious gullet dilates into an immense crop. Coeca are "wanting. The caro- 
tids are double. The feathers lack an aftershaft ; the plumage is sombre and unvaried ; its 
changes are slight ; the sexes are alike, and the 9 is not larger than the ^ . The famous 
Condor of the Andes, Sarcorhamphus gryphus ; the King Vulture, Gyparclms papa, which 
probably occurs in Arizona, and species of the three following genera, compose the family. 
