Catharista atrata 
Charleston, South Carolina. 
1889. None of the Vultures about the raarhet made any noise. 
Jan. 28, Most of them had their plumage more or less dappled with 
(No.2). ohallcy odure probably received when roosting. .Their heads 
and feet were also muddy and foul. Their p Image in the main, 
however, v/as glossy and neat looking. The wings are loosely 
folded and hang low on the sides looking as if wired on im- 
% 
perfectly by a bad taxidermist. The scapulars do not lie 
dovra on the wings but are raised along their edges in a stiff 
ridge. The attitudes of the bird are loose, easy and often 
not ungraceful. In flight the heck is dra’wn in, the head and 
bill point downward not unlike a Heron's. The usual gait is 
a slow v/alk very like a Crow's, the whole body tilting up and 
dovm at each step. ViThen in haste the bird takes long bound- 
ing leaps using the wings to accelerate its siieed and often 
jiiraping two feet high or eight feet horisontally. The flight 
is T>er formed by five or six quick flaps succeeded by an inter- 
val of sailing. They sail less in circles than Cathartes . and 
the flight is much less easy and graceful. The? tail looks as 
if chopped off short. 
