CHERRIE: ORNITHOLOGY OF THE ORINOCO REGION. 339 
effect is brownish black, but when looked at closely there is seen to 
be a strong wash of dusky greenish bronze over all. There is no ruff 
about the neck ; the bare part of which is much shorter than in 
pernigra or aura, and the feathering extends well up on the back 
almost to the nape. The character most distinctive about the head is 
probably the fleshy caruncles sparsely scattered along the sides of the 
neck and (at least in adults) across the nape. In skins of this species 
which I have examined, the tips of the folded wings extend beyond 
the tip of the tail while in C. pernigra the tips of the wings rarely 
reach to the end of the tail. Peizeln's description of this vulture is 
full and clear and requires no modification except in regard to the 
color of the shafts of the primaries which are said to be white both 
above and below ("scapis remigum primariarum supra et subtus 
albis") : I have found the color of the upper side of the shafts of the 
primaries to depend entirely on the age of the feather. Freshly 
moulted primaries have the shaft dark rich seal brown in color, but 
with exposure this color rapidly fades to an ivory white; in the same 
way the webs of. the primaries become more bronzy brown in hue, 
the steel blue or purplish sheen of the freshly moulted feathers rapidly 
fading. The under sides of the shafts of the primaries are white in 
every stage, but in some of the older quills they become a dirty 
yellowish white. Only four specimens were available for comparison, 
the measurements of which are given below. 
W 
T Ts 
c? 3750 B I. M. 
San Mateo de Cai- 
cara, River Ori- 
noco, Venez. 
May. 1905, G. K. Cher 
rie 4S0 
228 58 
c? 5207 
Caicara, River Ori- 
noco, Venez. 
May. 1907. (i. K. Cher 
rie 464 
218 58 
? 131945 U. S. N. M. 
Georgetown. 
British Guiana, 
July, i8qi, 
474 
235 56 
34984 
Brazil, 
GVP.\GUS P.\P.\ 
Xatterer 
(Linnaeus). 
470 
230 56 
l-'ultur papa Linn. 
, Syst. Nat., I, p. i 
S6, 1758 (Brazil). 
Native name 
Rey de Zamuro. 
Noted everywhere 
along the Ori- 
noco and while not common, it cov 
lid not be classed a: 
3 rare. 
Speci- 
C.M'H.-\RisT.v URUBU BR.\siLii-;xsis (Bonaparte). 
Cathartcs brasilicnsis Bonap., Consp. Av. I, 1850, p. 59. 
Catliartcs atratus Berlepsch, Ibis 1884; p. 438 (Angostura). 
