TURKEY BUZZARD. 437 
Genus CATHARTES. Illiger. 
Crop feathered. Male without fleshy crest, or other appendages on the head. Only 
the upper half or less of the neck bare; plumage commencing gradually with normal 
broad feathers ; feathers of breast and abdomen broad and normal. Head only moderately 
elongated, the upper outline irregular, the forehead elevated above the dorsal outline 
of the cere. Bill strong, the terminal hook well developed, its outlines only moderately 
convex ; cere nearly equal to the head in length. Sexes alike. 
Mr. Ridgway places our two species in separate genera, which for con- 
venience may here be considered sub-genera, as follows: 
Rhinogryphus. Nostril occupying the whole of the nasal cavity, it anterior end 
broadly rounded; cere as deep as broad, the upper and lower outlines 
divergent posteriorly, the former considerably arched; lower mandible 
much less deep than upper. Skin of the neck without corrugations; a 
semi-circular tuft of antrorse radiating bristles in front of the eye. Wing 
very long, the primaries reaching to or beyond the end of the tail. Tail 
‘much rounded. (R. aura and R. burrovianus.) 
Catharista. Nostril occupying only the posterior half of the nasal cavity, its an- 
terior end contracted and acute; cere depressed, much wider than deep, its 
upper and lower outlines parallel, the former not perceptibly arvhed ; lower 
skin of the neck transversely corrugated; no tuft of bristles in front of the 
eye. Wings short, the primaries reaching scarcely to the middle of tail. 
Tail even, or slightly emarginate. (C. atratus.) 
CATHARTES AURA (L.) Illiger. 
Turkey Buzzard. 
Vultur aura, WILSON, Am. Orn., iv, 1812, 89. 
Cathartes aura, KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Sarv., 1838, 161, 176.—ReEaD, Proc. Phila. Acad. 
Nat. Sci., vi, 1853, 395.—KrrkpaTrick, Ohio Farmer, vii, 1858, 59; Ohio Agric. Rep. 
for 1858, 343.—WHEATON, Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1860, 360 ; Reprint, 1861, 2; Food of 
Birds, ete , Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 571 ; Reprint, 1875, 11.—LANGDON, Cat. Birds of 
Cin., 1877, 13; Summer Birds, Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., iii, 1880, 226. 
Rhinogryphus aura, LANGDON, Revised List, Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1,1879, 180; Re- 
print, 14. 
Turkey Buzzard, KIRTLAND, Fam. Visitor, i, 1850, 1. 
Vultur aura, LINN&US, Syst. Nat., i, 1766, 122. 
Cathartes aura, ILLIGER, Prod., 1811, 236. 
Khinogryphus aura, BAIRD, BREWER and RipGway, N. A. Birds, iii, 1874, 344. 
Blackish-brown; quills ashy-gray on their under surface; head red; feet flesh- 
colored; bill white. Skin of the head corrugated, sparsely beset with bristle-like 
feathers ; plumage commencing in a circle on the neck; tail rounded. Length, about 
24 feet ; extent, 6; wing, 2; tail, 1. 
Habitat, The whole of the United States and adjoining British Possessions. South 
through Central and most of South America. 
Common summer resident in Southern and Middle, less common in 
