42 
Capt. Blakiston on the Birds of the 
plying a local list, brought up to the present time, of the birds of 
the interior of British North America, and, as such, I shall feel 
honoured by its appreciation. 
Order I. ACCIPITRES. 
Cathartes aura. 
In the ‘ Fauna Boreali- Americana 3 a specimen of this Vulture 
is recorded from the Saskatchawan*. An individual was shot 
at Red River Settlement on the 27th of April, 1859, which I 
examined, and I was very sorry that my departure the following 
day, on a journey to the United States, prevented my preserving 
it. What adds to the interest of this second capture is, that at 
that date, it being a late spring, the winter's snow was covering 
the ground to the depth of a foot, while the rivers were still 
ice-bound. Besides this, I observed a Vulture, which I took to 
be C. aura , at Fort Carlton, near the forks of the Saskatchawan 
River, in latitude 53°, on the 7th of May, the year previous; 
and again on the 2nd of September of the same year, I saw one 
feeding on the remains of a dead horse, abandoned by some 
Kootonay Indians, at the western base of the Rocky Mountains, 
a few miles south of where I had determined the international 
boundary (the 49th parallel) to exist. Again, I saw many 
Vultures in the northern part of the State of Minnesota in the 
early part of the May following ; and there are several specimens 
in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington 
from near the 49th parallel. These latter instances, of course, 
were not on British ground, although very near it. They will not, 
therefore, swell the number of occurrences in the region treated of 
in this paper, where the Turkey Buzzard cannot be said to be com¬ 
mon. The only part of it, indeed, as far as I can ascertain, 
that it inhabits is the prairie country that lies to the south and 
west of Lake Winipeg, which may be considered as the northern 
extension of the “ high central plains ” between the valley of the 
Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. 
* Saskatchawan is thus spelt, as being most in keeping with the Indian 
pronunciation of the “ Strong Current.” 
