From Texas to Pennsylvania. Inland westward to the Columbia River. Resident.
Turkey-Vulture or Turkey-Buzzard, Vultur Aura, Wils. v. ix. p. 96.
Cathartes Aura, Bonap. Syn. p. 22.
Cathartes Aura, Turkey-Vulture, Rich. & Swains. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 4.
Turkey-Vulture or Turkey-Buzzard, Nuttal, Man. v. ii. p. 43.
Turkey-Buzzard, Cathartes Aura, Aud. v. ii. p. 296; v. v. p. 339.
3. 3. Cathartes atratus, Wils. Black-headed Turkey-Vulture.—Black Vulture. Carrion Crow.
Plate CVI. Fig. 1. Male. Fig. 2. Female.
Nostrils very large, oblong, occupying the whole nasal cavity; feathers of the neck short, very broad, abruptly rounded, advancing farther on the hind part; skin over the crop feathered; tail even. Adult with the skin of the head and neck corrugated, dusky, the horny part of the bill greyish-yellow, the plumage bluish-black, feet yellowish-grey. Young when fledged with the head and neck closely covered with dusky down; the plumage blackish-brown.
Male, length 26, extent of wings 54.
From Texas to New Jersey. Up the Mississippi to the Ohio. Columbia River. Resident.
Black Vulture or Carrion Crow, Vultur atratus, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. ix. p. 104.
Cathartes Iota, Bonap. Syn. p. 23.
Black Vulture or Carrion Crow, Cathartes Iota, Nuttal, Man. v. i. p. 46.
Black Vulture or Carrion Crow, Aud. v. ii. p. 33; v. v. p. 345.
Cathartes atratus, Black Vulture, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 6.
FAMILY II. FALCONINÆ. FALCONINE BIRDS.
Bill short, stout, cerate; upper mandible with the tip elongated and decurved; lower mandible rounded and thin-edged at the end. Head rather large, broadly ovate, feathered. Eyes large, with prominent superciliary ridges. External aperture of ears of moderate size, and simple. Tarsus longer than the middle toe; claws very large, much curved, extremely acute. Plumage full and generally compact. Wings very long and broad. Œsophagus excessively wide and dilated into a crop; stomach large, somewhat membranous, its muscular fasciculi being placed in a single series; intestine short and rather wide, or very long and slender; cœca extremely small. The young, when fledged, generally having the lower parts longitudinally streaked. Eggs from two to six, ovate, or roundish. Nest on trees, rocks, or the ground.