VULTURIN^. CATHARTES. 
3 
coloured^ tingled with yellow. Young when fledged with the skin of 
the head and neck dull flesh-coloured and more downy, the horny 
tip of the bill light blue, the plumage nearly as in the adult, but the 
wing-coverts and secondaries spotted with whitish. 
Male. — Length S2, extent of wings 76. 
From Texas to Pennsylvania. Inland westward to the Columbia 
River. Resident. 
Turkey- Vulture or Turkey-Buzzard, Vultur Aura, WiLS. v. ix. p. 96. 
Cathartes Aura, Bonap. Syn. p. 22. 
Cathartes Aura, Turkey-Vulture, Rich. & Swains. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 4. 
Turkey- Vulture or Turkey-Buzzard, Nuttal, Man. v. ii. p. 43. 
Turkey-Buzzard, Cathartes Aura, Aud. v. ii. p. 296 z, v. v. p. 339. 
3. 3. Cathartes atratus, Wils. Black-headed Turkey- Vul- 
ture. — Black Vulture. Carrion Crow. 
Plate CVI. Fig. 1. Male. Fig. 2. Female. 
N ostrils very large, oblong, occupying the whole nasal cavity ; 
feathers of the neck short, very broad, abruptly rounded, advancing 
farther on the hind part ; skin over the crop feathered ; tail even. 
Adult with the skin of the head and neck corrugated, dusk}^, the 
horny part of the bill greyish- yellow, the plumage bluish-black, feet 
yellowish-grey. Young when fledged with the head and neck closely 
covered with dusky down ; the plumage blackish-brown. 
Male^ length 26, extent of wings 54. 
From Texas to New Jersey. Up the Mississippi to the Ohio. Co- 
lumbia River. . Resident, 
Black Vulture or Carrion Crow, Vultur atratus, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. ix. p. 104. 
Cathai’tes Iota, Bonap. Syn. p. 23. 
Black Vulture or Carrion Crow, Cathartes Iota, Nuttal, Man. v. i. p. 46. 
Black Vulture or Carrion Crow, Aud. v. ii. p. 33 ; v. v. p. 345. 
Cathartes atratus. Black Vulture, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 6. 
FAMILY II. FALCONINiE. FALCONINE BIRDS. 
Bill short, stout, cerate; upper mandible with the tip elon- 
gated and decurved ; lower mandible rounded and thin-edged 
at the end. Head rather large, broadly ovate, feathered. Eyes 
large, with prominent superciliary ridges. External aperture 
of ears of moderate size, and simple. Tarsus longer than the 
middle toe ; claws very large, much curved, extremely acute. 
Plumage full and generally compact. Wings very long and 
broad. Oesophagus excessively wide and dilated into a 
crop ; stomach large, somewhat membranous, its muscular 
fasciculi being placed in a single series ; intestine short and 
