144 
VULTURES 
the roads, gathering the weed seeds by the way. From their quick 
motions and constant haste one might think they were catching 
fleeing grasshoppers rather than stationary seeds. They go patter¬ 
ing about, bobbing their heads and keeping up a rapid, hard little . 
cooing that has scarcely a suggestion of the soft dove tones. In the 
breeding season this is the first thing heard in the morning, and it 
is kept up well into the glowing heat of the day, usually given 
from the ground, but sometimes from the branches of trees. 
Vernon Bailey. 
ORDER RAPTORES: BIRDS OF PREY. 
(Families Cathartics, Falconids, Strigids, Bubonids.) 
FAMILY CATHARTIDiE: VULTURES. 
KEY TO GENERA. 
1. Wing 30 or more .Gymnogyps, p. 144. 
V. Wingless than 25. 
2. Head red. Cathartes, p. 145. 
2'. Head black.Catharista, p. 146. 
GENUS GYMNOGYPS. 
324. Gymnogyps californianus ( Shaw ). California Vul¬ 
ture: Condor. 
Wing 30 or more ; head and entire neck bare, skin smooth ; plumage of 
under parts lanceolate or pencillate ; head much elongated, forehead flat¬ 
tened ; nostril small, its anterior end acute ; hill small, mandibles broader 
than deep ; wings folding to or beyond end of square tail. Adults : head 
and neck bare, yellow, or orange in life ; hill whitish or pale yellowish ; 
plumage sooty blackish ; outer webs of greater wing coverts and second¬ 
aries grayish, wing coverts tipped with white and outer secondaries edged 
with white; axillars and under wing coverts pure white. Young: like 
adults, but neck more or less covered with sooty grayish down, bill and 
naked skin blackish ; brown edgings of feathers of upper parts producing 
a scaled effect; white of under wings and gray webbing of coverts and 
secondaries wanting. Length : 44-55, extent 84- to nearly 11 feet; weight 
20-25 pounds, wing 30-35, tail 15-18, bill 1.50. 
Remarks. — The vulture can be distinguished in the field by its great 
size and its white under wing coverts. 
Distribution. — Coast ranges of southern California from Monterey Bay 
south to Lower California, and east to Arizona. 
Nest. — A cavity or recess among rocks, or hollow in a stump, log, or 
tree trunk. Eggs : 1 or 2, plain grayish green, or greenish white. 
Food. — Carrion. 
To come upon the California vulture alive and free is like sud¬ 
denly coming to a giant sequoia towering above the forest. The 
sequoia awes you with the feeling of immensity, and the forest 
