BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
117 
Genus GATH ARISTA Vieillot. 
Catharista atrata (Bartr.). 
Black Vulture. 
Description. 
Adult . — Entire plumage dull black, the quills grayish basally (hoary whitish on 
under surface), their shafts pure white ; bill dusky with yellowish or whitish tip; 
naked skin of head and foreneck dusky. Length 23-27 ; extent about 54 inches.” — 
Ridgioay Manual N. A. Birds. 
Habitad . — South Atlantic and gulf states, north to North Carolina and the Lower 
Ohio valley, west to the great plains, and south through Mexico and Central America 
and most of South America. Straggling north to New York and Maine. 
The Black Vulture or Carrion Crow, as this bird is sometimes called, 
I have never seen in Pennsylvania. Stragglers have been observed in 
Northampton county by Dr. John W. Detwiller and Edmund Bicksecker, 
and one was taken in Perry county by Prof. H. Justin Boddy. 
Suborder FALCONES. Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, Etc 
Family FALCONID.®. Vultures, Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, Etc. 
Subfamily accipitrina:. Kites, Buzzards, Hawks, Eagles, Etc. 
THE EAGLES, HAWKS, ETC. 
About a dozen species included in this subfamily are found regularly in Pennsyl- 
vania, and of all the numerous species of bird-life occurring in this commonwealth, 
few are better known to our people in general than are the Eagles and Hawks, some 
of which are common at all times, or during some period of the year, in every sec- 
tion of the state. W^ith a few exceptions these raptores, as well as most of the owls, 
particularly the smaller kinds of owls, are highly beneticial to the farmer and Iruii- 
grower, because of the immense quantities of destructive mice and other injurious 
animals, also large numbers of noxious insects, etc., which they devour. The 
majority of these birds build large nests of sticks, twigs, etc., on trees, some, how- 
ever, nest on rocky ledges. The Marsh Hawk breeds on the ground, and the Little 
Sparrow Hawk, like the Screech Owl and Woodpecker, breeds in hollow trees. The 
eggs, usually two to five, sometimes more, are generally spotted and blotched, and 
never spherical and white, like eggs of the owls. The adult males are usually 
smaller than the females, and with the exception of the Marsh and Sparrow Hawks, 
are quite similar in color. The young or immature birds, of most species, differ 
greatly from the old. These birds catch their prey with their talons. Their cries 
are loud and harsh. Occasionally they are seen in flocks — sometimes containing 
several species — but usually are observed singly or in pairs. The bill is short, stout 
and strongly hooked, the head is completely feathered and without ear-tufts or 
“horns ” like some of the owls ; the tarsus, except in the Golden Eagle and Rough- 
legged Hawks, is naked. The feet have long, strong, large, sharp and curved 
claws ; the outer toe, except in the Fish Hawk, is not reversible. The eyes directed 
laterally. 
