CATHARTID M — THE AMERICAN VULTURES, 
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culmen, 2.05-2.20; tarsus, 3.30-3.80; middle toe, 2.50-2.95; depth 
of bill about 1.45 ; cere, on top, .85. Adult. Head and neck pale 
grayish-fulvous, or dirty yellowish-gray, not abruptly lighter than 
the body. Tail, only, pure white. Rest of the plumage, including 
the tail-coverts, dark grayish-brown, inclining to blackish on the pri- 
maries. Young. Prevailing tint of the upper parts light isabella-color, 
or pale grayish-cinnamon, each feather having a terminal triangular 
spot of blackish-brown. Breast soiled white, with broad stripes of 
brownish-black ; rest of the lower parts nearly uniform fulvous-brown, 
the tibiae darker. Hob. Europe; Egypt; Greenland. ( White-tailed 
Eagle; Sea-Eagle.) 
3. H. lencocephalus. Length of male, 30 to 34 inches ; female, 35 to 
40 ; young and immature bird larger than the adult. Wing, 20.00 - 
26.00; tail, 10.50-15.50; culmen, 1.85-2.20; tarsus, 2.65-3.70; middle 
toe, 2.35-3.10 ; depth of bill about 1.30; cere, on the top, .80. Adult. 
Head and neck, tail and tail-coverts, pure white, immaculate (except in 
transition dress). Rest of the plumage brownish-black. Young. Brown- 
ish-black, showing much concealed white at the bases of the feathers ; 
ground-color inclining to umber-brown on the upper surface ; on the 
lower parts, the basal white much exposed and predominating, the 
blackish forming longitudinal, tear-shaped spots. Head and neck 
brownish-black, the penicillated feathers of the nape seldom with 
whitish points. Tail-feathers and primaries black, the inner webs 
usually more or less marked, longitudinally, with buffy-whitish. Hob. 
The whole of North America. ( White-headed Eagle ; Bald Eagle.) 
Family CATHAE-TID^S. — The American Vultures. 
Char. Whole head, and sometimes the neck, naked ; eyes prominent, and not shaded 
| by a superciliary shield. Cere much elongated, much depressed anteriorly below the very 
arched culmen ; nostrils longitudinal, horizontal, the two confluent or perforate. Middle 
toe very long, and the hind one much abbreviated. A web between the base of the inner 
and middle toes. 
A. Crop naked. Male with a fleshy crest, or lobe, attached to the top of the 
cere. Bill very robust and strong, its outlines very convex ; cere much shorter 
than the head. Embraces the genus Sarcorhamphus peculiar to Middle and South 
h America. 
IS. Crop feathered. Male without a fleshy crest, or other appendages, on the 
head. Bill less robust, variable as to strength, its outlines only moderately con- 
vex ; cere nearly equal to the head in length. Sexes alike. 
a. Entire neck bare ; plumage commencing abruptly in a ruff of lanceolate, 
•: or penicillate feathers, these continued on the breast and abdomen. Head 
much elongated, the upper outline a slightly convex plane, the forehead 
depressed below the level of the very elevated dorsal outline of the cere. 
Posterior claw very thick and strongly curved. Iris dark hazel (Aud.) ; 
pale red (Douglass). Eggs white, unspotted. Nest on ground. 
1. Pseudogryphus. Nostril occupying only the posterior third of the 
nasal orifice, its anterior end acute. Bill weak, the terminal hook only 
slightly developed, the mandibles broader than deep, the lower as deep 
