minor groups of Savigny. The three might indeed be considered
as coordinate rjsubgenera. •
As for ÉlPgenus. Cathartes, ^ B^SlSaama means sO easy to divide,
and the.two groups or snbgenera whiehiWMadmit are perhaps
artificial and blended tóo much together. * The first, comprising
the Condor,y'the CaliformamsCondor, and the King Vulture, that
• is, the Stout-billed American Vultures, mgy be called Sarcoramphus,
a name confined by Dumérft and Cinder to„Aose -jbhat -have
caruncles or fleshy appendages on the head, but to whichjjAieiJJnjt
very justly ad^g^dC» c a ^ r ^ ^ ^ , ,calling the group Gypagus. 1
.Th e second subgenus of..Wmhartes ma^be^palled^ Qgtharista,
Yieifloi, or the Slendrr-billem •American Vultures, analogous in a
parallel series, where Ihp-.stjrength of the bill is cogsgdered, tefthej
Percnopteri, hut havingmo, immediate affinity wilRhenL, The
only known species&re the two of 1Yilson’|ypnjb, C a th eys gura,\
and Gathartes iota of. m^Synops«j|., the formpTof which is a lid k
between its owngroupandthe preceding.
The best discriminating mark between thetepfjrincipaf^gcfi^ ’
of this family, • one which is obvious and eas^pljmderstoo'd, is tr a
striking cllflacter of the perviousnigs of the nostrils in G a th a rt^
through which % h t appears broadly from one side', toyhe nt.ba.Tfe
wh ^ e..in the Vultures«heft.are separated by airmtergal .^ rS a -
ginous partition^ 1 This will make it at once evidén^ffiafit was
for want of proper^ examination that tfie Percnopterus, merely o1af
aifewirit of its sJendefjjbill,. was evS^toisidered a C0haptes.
.The remaining. cbaraet%M,|jeing more <$ Relative tham^boaitive
kindy^ we shall not her^noüee tKèm, except pjiWarking^ihat t h ^
hind toë. heing much shorter and set on higher up ini the
American genus, shoves, a greater affihity with* the Gallinaceo^S^'
birds, an affinity which may be traced in other j&atures of thmr^
.organization. The number of'taii-feathers is. fourteen in several
species of Vultures,, whilst" no Cathartes h&s ever been -found to>
havei^horef than*'twelve’: . The prineipal traits, both: moral and
physical, are the same in all the birds composing this highly
natural family.
All -in fa-et are d?Mnguttshcdfe by having, t-heir head, which is
«matt, «ted. Iheir neck, more or les-s jiaked, these parts being
deprive!!».ofrfeathers, and merejy mrilished with,-a light down, dr
a few soa|||eFed hairs. - Their eyes are prominent, being set even
.with the bead, and not deep sunk in the socket, as in Eagles and
other ^qpalious’ birds-, ’ They g ^ H fee power otf- drawing down
Weir he.ad^into a sort- idf collar fOTftied^jy longer^ feathers at .the
ba!k | oSHrhe neck: sometimes tllty withdraw 4he whole neck
andspai^l^|. ^ e head into thisbollaf, s j^ haf yhe bird looks as if
dt imd drawn -its whole neck down into the body. They have
a c r a ^ o v M * with. setacedfe feafi^grsB?' sometimes woolly
or enwMy n ak tf, amfeprominent, especially after'indulging their
voraeipps ^^petite^ppheir fe.el||re ne'vmBmithered like those 6f
an Eagle, although- they have been : unnaturally so represented
in thfe'plate^.^ sepie authors.’ The tarsus is* shorter, than the
middle toed which is connected at its baih by a membrane with
the outer one. The claws gape hardly reirhetfte,; qompaEafively
shp'ft» and |Efdm these birds’ habit1 of keeping ittueih on the
gCPNBd, bfPUad of always perching, as the Mttimmdse, thfji:'%ce
neither sharp pointed- nor much curved. Th^p p in g s are|long
and subacuminate, th e jh ird - and fourth prim’a ^ s being lo ii^ p t:
they are lined beneath with a thick dowuysf apechliar andvuty
spft nature.
The young b ird si^ v F lb e ir head entnel^ covered with down,
whichagradually falls off as they advanW'tfi’ age. The female is
largimjthan |he maifilt their plumage varies greatly with age> and
theylEdult but once a year. The young are easily distinguished
by their downy- head and peek, these parts in the adult being
nakedf and by the absence of the caruncles which in some species
yp!£,.':tv.—*cj&