THE KING VULTURE (Cathartes[165] papa[166]).
This is by far the handsomest of the whole family, its head and neck being covered with caruncles, which in life are orange, purple, and crimson in colour; the general plumage of the bird, too, is a delicate fawn or cream colour. It is an inhabitant of Central and Southern America, from Mexico southwards to Brazil, where it is found a little below the twentieth degree of south latitude. It appears to be rather a cleaner feeder than the Condor or other American Vultures, and frequents wooded countries instead of those rocky places in which the Condor delights. It is rarer than the last-named bird, and from its forest-loving habits is less easily observed, and it is altogether a more active and lively species. It is shy and suspicious, and is most difficult to obtain, from its habit of sitting on the tops of trees, whence it scans with ease the country around. On this account it is seldom shot, and D’Orbigny, from whose works much of the above information is derived, says that it is only captured by attracting it to a carcase, and then shooting it from an ambush. Another mode of capture, which he says is followed by the natives of Santa Cruz de la Sierra,[167] is by finding out the tree on which the King Vulture roosts, and to which it returns night after night, and then to climb up and capture the bird with gloved hands. The same observer says that it is not from any innate respect, but from fear of its powerful bill, that the Turkey Vultures pay such deference to this present bird, not venturing to commence their repast until he is satisfied, whereby he is popularly known as the “King” of the Vultures.
THE TURKEY VULTURE (Rhinogryphus[168] aura).
This is an inhabitant of North America, whence it ranges throughout Central America and the West Indian Islands down the Andean chain to the Strait of Magellan. Their habits vary somewhat with locality, for whereas in the Southern United States they act as scavengers in the towns, in Guatemala and other places in Central America they are not seen in flocks, but occur in pairs only in the forests. As in the case of the other Vultures, their food consists of carrion, and they are found in large numbers in deserts, where they obtain an ample supply of food in the animals which perish. The Turkey Vulture is about two feet and a half in length. The plumage is black with a purplish gloss, and in life the bare head and neck are of a bright red colour, which soon fades after death.
BRAZILIAN CARACARA.
FAMILY FALCONIDÆ.—THE FALCON-LIKE HAWKS.
THE FIRST SUB-FAMILY.—THE CARACARAS (Polyborinæ).
All the members of this sub-family are more or less Vulturine in their habits and appearance, and many of them are carrion feeders. The name “Caracara” with which these birds are here designated is of Brazilian origin, and all the species included under the present heading are inhabitants of Central and Southern America, with the exception of the Secretary Bird of Africa. They all seem to be at home on the ground, and they differ from all other birds of prey in having a membrane which joins the base of the two outer toes to the middle one, a feature which is doubtless useful to the birds when wallowing in the marshy ground, which many of them frequent in quest of frogs, &c. The Southern Caracaras (Ibycter australis) are said to run with extreme quickness, putting out one leg before the other, and stretching forward their bodies very much like Pheasants. Mr. Darwin, who became acquainted with these birds during his voyage in the Beagle, says that their flesh is good to eat, and he gives a very interesting account of the habits of the Southern Caracara in the Falkland Islands, where they were extraordinarily tame and very mischievous, frequenting the neighbourhood of the houses to pick up all kinds of offal. If a beast were killed they congregated from all quarters like so many Vultures, and they did not hesitate to attack and capture wounded birds, on one occasion pouncing on a Dog which was lying asleep. They would also carry off miscellaneous articles which were lying on the ground. “A large black glazed hat was carried nearly a mile, as were a pair of heavy balls, used in catching wild cattle. Mr. Usborne experienced during the survey a severe loss in a small Kater’s compass, in a red morocco case, which was never recovered.” According also to Mr. Darwin, these birds were quarrelsome and extremely passionate, and it was curious to behold them, when impatient, tearing up the grass with their bills, from rage. It may be owing to their strong feelings, as described by the last-named naturalist, that the colour of the face changes in the Brazilian Caracara, concerning which a somewhat amusing incident may be related. There arrived from Patagonia at the Zoological Gardens two Caracaras, which were white instead of brown, like the Brazilian species (Polyborus tharus), and the question which troubled naturalists was, whether these Patagonian birds were a distinct species, or whether they were simply a white variety of the ordinary Brazilian bird. The latter had the bare skin of the face lemon-yellow, whereas the white birds had this part purple, and this was looked upon as one sign of their belonging to a distinct species. But one memorable day an ornithologist went up to describe the new arrivals, and to bestow on them a name, which should mark the character of the purple face. No doubt existed in his mind, for the white birds had now lived for a whole year in the Gardens, and were still white and had a purple visage, but, happening to turn his head away for one moment, he was not a little surprised, on looking back at his supposed new species, to find that the facial character had disappeared, and that the bird’s visage was now yellow. At the same moment the face of one of the Brazilian birds in the adjoining den had turned red, and hence it became clear that the Caracaras can change the colour of the bare face at will, and that the lighter-coloured specimen was only an albino after all! Besides the Caracaras, at least one other species of bird of prey changes colour in a somewhat similar way—the Bateleur Eagle,[169] which, if irritated, flushes up to the roots of its feathers, and its bare face, which is usually scarlet, becomes a deep blood-red or crimson. In the case of the latter bird the change of colour is visible not only in the visage but in the feet also, which likewise acquire a darker red than before.