CATHABTID^: AMERICAN VULTURES. 
559 
circlet of ordinary feathers all around the neck ; the naked skin corrugated and sparsely beset 
with bristles, especially a patch before the eye. Bill long, moderately stout and hooked, the 
nostrils large, elliptical, completely pervious, the cere contracted opposite them. Wings 
extremely long, not particularly broad, pointed, folding bi^youd the tail, which is short and 
rounded. Point of the wing formed by 3d or 4th quill; 2d and 5th nearly as long; 1st much 
shorter ; outer 4 or 5 emarginate on inner webs. Tarsus about as long as middle toe without 
claw. Of Cathartes as restricted there are several species described, but only one is estab- 
lished as N. Am. They are noted for their extraordinary powers of sailing flight. 
537. C. au'ra. (Vox barb., name of the bird. Fig. 387.) Turkey Buzzard. Adult ^ 9: 
Fig. 387. — Turkey Buzzard, i nat. size. (From Brehm.) 
Blackish-brown, grayer on the wing-coverts ; quills black, ashy-gray on their under surface ; 
tail black, with pale brown shafts. Head red, from livid crimson to pale carmine, with whitish 
specks usually; bill dead white; feet flesh-colored; iris brown. Length feet; extent 
about 6 feet; wing 2 feet or less ; tail a foot or less ; tarsus 2.25 inches; middle toe without 
claw rather more ; outer toe 1.50; inner 1.25 ; hind 0.75 ; chord of culmen without cere 1.00. 
Weight 4-5 pounds. Young darker than the adults ; bill and skin of head dark, the latter 
downy. Nestlings covered with whitish down. U. S. and adjoining provinces, Atlantic to 
Pacific, and south clear through C. and S. Am. ; N. to about 53°; resident N. to about 40°, 
beyond which migratory, being starved out in winter. Nests on the ground, or near it in 
hollow stumps or logs, generally in communities. Eggs commonly 2, sometimes 1, about 
