A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 3

Dr. Cooper did not see these birds in any number along the sea-coast, and has noticed none on the islands or in the highest Sierra Nevada. Yet they are said, when other food is scarce, to feed on dead seals and whales; but this fact he has never witnessed.

Dr. Newberry states that it was to him a pleasant portion of every day’s experience, in his march through the Sacramento Valley, to watch the graceful evolutions of this Vulture. In its colors the combination was a pleasing one, while its flight was easy and effortless beyond that of any other bird. Though a common bird in California, he found it much more shy and difficult to shoot than its associate, the Turkey-Buzzard; and it was never seen in such numbers or exhibiting such familiarity as the smaller species which swarm, and are such efficient scavengers, in our southern cities. After his party left the Sacramento Valley, he saw very few in the Klamath Basin, and met with none within the limits of Oregon. It is occasionally found there, but much more rarely than in California.

Dr. Newberry states that a fine specimen presented to Dr. Sterling on his return to San Francisco ate freely of the meat given him, and was for some time kept alive. It was, however, impatient of confinement, and succeeded in tearing the cord that confined him from his legs, and in making his escape. Dr. Cooper also saw one of these Vultures in confinement, at Monterey, in the possession of Dr. Canfield. This was a full-grown individual which he had raised from the nest. It had been fed exclusively on fresh meat, had no offensive smell, and was clean and shining. It was gentle and familiar, but seemed stupid, and dozed most of the time on a fence. This was subsequently presented to the Zoölogical Society of London, and formed the subject of our figure. The figure of the young bird on the next page is taken from a photograph of the same specimen at an early age.

Pseudogryphus californianus.

Dr. Heermann, in his Report on Lieutenant Williamson’s Survey, mentions having observed this Vulture sailing majestically in wide circles at a great height, and ranging by its powers of flight over an immense space of country in search of food. Often when hunting in the Tejon Valley, if unsuccessful, they would be several hours without seeing one of this species; but as soon as they succeeded in bringing down any large game, these birds would be seen rising above the horizon before the body had grown cold, and slowly sweeping towards them, intent upon their share of the game. In the absence of the hunter, unless well protected, these marauders will be sure to drag out from its concealment the slain animal, even though carefully covered with branches. Dr. Heermann states that he has known them to drag out and devour a deer within an hour. This Vulture possesses immense muscular power. Dr. Heermann has known four of them to drag the body of a young grizzly bear, that weighed over a hundred pounds, the distance of two hundred yards. Dr. Cooper states that it visits the Columbia River in autumn, when its shores are lined with great numbers of dead salmon, on which, in company with other birds and various animals, it feasts for a couple of months. He considered it, however, only a visitor at certain seasons, and not a resident even through the summer. He did not see it, nor did he hear of its presence at Puget Sound.

Pseudogryphus californianus.

It is stated by Douglas that these Vultures will in no instance attack any living animal unless it be so severely wounded as to be unable to walk. Their senses of sight and smell are very acute, especially the former; and when searching for prey they soar to a very great height, and if they chance to discover a wounded animal they immediately follow and attack it whenever it sinks down. The first comers are soon followed by others, and it is not long before the carcass is reduced to a skeleton. After thus feeding, they remain for a while sluggish and reluctant to move. At these times they perch on dead trees, with their heads drawn down, and their wings drooping over their feet. Except after feeding, or when protecting their nests, they are said to be very wary, and are with great difficulty shot by the hunter. Their flight is described as slow, steady, and graceful, and they glide along with little or no perceptible motion of the wings, the tips of which are curved upward in flying, in the manner of the Turkey-Buzzard. They are said to appear most numerous and to soar the highest preceding thunder-storms and tempests.

Dr. Townsend states that in their walk they resemble a Turkey strutting over the ground with great dignity, but are clumsy and awkward when they endeavor to hasten their movements. When they attempt to rise from the ground they always hop several yards, in order to give an impetus to their heavy body. Dr. Cooper discredits the statement of Mr. Taylor, that this Vulture has been known to kill and carry off a hare in its claws. These are straight and weak, and not adapted for such uses.

Dr. Heermann states that a nest of this bird with young was discovered in a thicket on the Tuolumne River. It was about eight feet back from the entrance of a crevice in the rocks, completely surrounded and masked by thick underbrush and trees, and composed of a few loose sticks thrown negligently together. He found two other nests, of a like construction and similarly situated, at the head of Merced River and in the mountains. From the latter the Indians were in the habit of yearly robbing the young, to kill at one of their festivals.

Mr. Alexander S. Taylor, of Monterey, published a series of papers in a California journal relative to this Vulture. In one of these he mentions that a Mexican ranchero, in hunting among the highest peaks of the Santa Lucia range, disturbed two pairs of them from their nesting-places, and brought away from one a young bird a few days old, and from the other an egg. There was no nest, the eggs having been laid in the hollow of a tall old robles-oak, in a steep barranca, near the summit of one of the highest peaks. These birds are said by some hunters to make no nest, but simply lay their eggs on the ground at the foot of old trees or on the bare rocks of solitary peaks. Others affirm that they sometimes lay their eggs in old nests of Eagles and Buzzards. Mr. Taylor states that the egg weighed 10.50 ounces, the contents weighing 8.75. The egg was of a dead dull white color, the surface of the shell slightly roughened. It was nearly a perfect ellipse in shape, and measured 4.50 inches in length by 2.38 in diameter. The egg-shell held nine fluid ounces of water. The young Vulture weighed ten ounces. His skin was of an ocreous-yellow, covered with a fine down of a dull white.

Dr. Canfield informed Dr. Cooper that he has seen as many as one hundred and fifty of these birds at one time and place in the vicinity of antelopes he had killed, and noticed that they invariably sighted their prey. They are often killed by feeding on animals that have been poisoned with strychnine. They are not feared by the rancheros, yet Dr. Canfield has known a number to attack a young calf, separate it from its mother, and kill it. A vaquero having killed a large grizzly bear, left it on the plains near the sea-shore, to return to the house, about three miles distant, for assistance. On his return, after an absence of about two hours, a flock of these Vultures had cleaned the entire carcass, leaving only the skin and the skeleton. This Vulture and the Turkey-Buzzard often feed together over the same carcass, and generally do some fighting together. Many of them nest in the high mountains east and south of the Carmelo Valley, and also near Santa Cruz, as well as in the Santa Lucia range, and are found there throughout the year, but in greater numbers from July to November.

An egg of this species, in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution (9,983), from San Rafael, California, obtained by Dr. C. A. Canfield, measures 4.40 inches in length by 2.50 in breadth. It is of an elongate-oval shape, but is decidedly more pointed at the smaller than at the larger end. In color it is of a uniform pale greenish-blue, almost an ashy greenish-white, and without spots.

Genus RHINOGRYPHUS, Ridgway

Cathartes, Auct. (in part). (Type, Vultur aura, L.)

Gen. Char. Size medium (about equal to Neophron), the wings and tail well developed, the remiges very long and large. Head and upper portion of the neck naked; the skin smooth, or merely wrinkled; a semicircular patch of antrorse bristles before the eye. Nostril very large, with both ends broadly rounded, occupying the whole of the nasal orifice. Cere contracted anteriorly, and as deep as broad; lower mandible not so deep as the upper. Plumage beginning gradually on the neck, with broad, rounded, normal feathers. Ends of primaries reaching beyond the end of the tail; third or fourth quill longest; outer five with inner webs appreciably sinuated. Tail much rounded; middle toe slightly longer than the tarsus. Sexes alike.

R. aura. ¼ nat. size.

R. aura. (¼.)

R. burrovianus. (¼.)

Neophron percnopterus. (¼.)

Rhinogryphus aura. (¼.)

The species of this genus are only two in number, one of them (aura) extending over the whole of America, with the exception of the colder portions; the other (burrovianus) confined to the eastern tropical region. They may be distinguished as follows:—

Species

Common Characters. General plumage nearly uniform blackish; no white. Adult. Bill white; head reddish. Young. Bill and head dusky, or blackish.

1. R. aura. Upper half of the neck bare all round. Feathers of the upper surface with brown borders. Wing, 20.00–23.00; tail, about 12.00. Hab. Entire continent and islands of America, except the colder portions.

2. R. burrovianus.98 Only the head and throat naked, the feathers of the neck extending up to the occiput. Feathers of the upper surface without brown borders. Wing, 18.00–18.50; tail, 9.00. Hab. Eastern Tropical America (Brazil; Eastern Mexico??).

Rhinogryphus aura (Linn.)TURKEY-BUZZARD; RED-HEADED VULTURE

Vultur aura, Linn. Syst. Nat. 122, 1766.—Gmel. Syst. Nat. 246, 1789.—Lath. Syn. I, 9; Syn. Supp. I, 2; Ind. Orn. 4.—Gen. Hist. I, 12, pl. iii.—Penn. Arct. Zoöl. I, 221.—Bart. Trav. Carol. p. 285.—Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept. pl. ii.—Ord (Wils.) Am. Orn. pl. lxxv, f. 1.—Aud. Edin. New. Phil. Journ. II, 172.—Darw. Journ. Res. p. 68.—Wagl. Isis, 1831, 517.—Shaw, Zoöl. VII, 36.—Sells, Proc. Zoöl. Soc. pt. v, p. 33; Mag. Nat. Ser. 2, I, 638.—Ledru, Voy. Ténérif. Trinit. etc. II, 264. Cathartes aura, Illig. Prod. Syst. 236, 1811.—Cuv. Règ. An. (ed. 1), 308; (ed. 2) I, 317.—Spix, Av. Bras. I, 2.—Vig. Zoöl. Journ.—Less. Man. Orn. I, 73; Tr. Orn. p. 28.—Bonap. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 23; Isis, 1832, p. 1135; List Eur. & N. Am. B. p. 1.—Rich. & Swains. F. B. A. II, 4.—Jard. (Wils.) Am. Orn. I, 3; IV, 245.—Brewer (Wils.) Synop. p. 682.—Ib. N. A. Oölogy.—Aud. Birds Am. pl. cli; Orn. Biog. II, 339; Synop. Birds Am. p. 2.—Nutt. Man. I, 43.—Swains. Classif. B. II, 205.—Darw. Zool. Beag. pt. iii, p. 8.—Gray, Gen. B. fol. sp. 2; List B. Brit. Mus. p. 3; List Gen. & Subgen. Brit. Mus. p. 2.—De Kay, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 2, pl. v, f. 12.—Gosse, Birds Jam. 1.—Peale, U. S. Expl. Exp. VIII, 58.—Reichenb. Prakt. Nat. Vög. p. 26.—Kerr, Transl. Gmel. II, 472.—Max. Beit. III, 64.—Rich. (Schomb.) Faun. Brit. Guiana, p. 742.—Cab. (Tschudi) Av. Consp. Wieg. Archiv, 1844, 262; Faun. Per. Orn. p. 71.—D’Orb. Synop. Av. Mag. Zoöl. p. 2; Voy. Am. Merid. Ois. p. 38 (R. Sagra); Hist. Nat. Cuba Ois. p. 4.—Licht. Verz. Doubl. p. 63.—Hartl. Syst. Ind. Azar. Pax. p. 1.—Max. Cab. Journ. VI, 1858, 2.—Gurney, Cat. Rapt. B. 1864, 42.—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 322 (Texas).—Coues, Key, 1872, 222. Percnopterus aura, Steph. Zoöl. XIII, pt. ii, p. 7, 1826. Vultur iota, Molin. St. Chil. p. 265, 1782.—Gmel. Syst. Nat. p. 247.—Daud. Tr. Orn. II, 20.—Lath. Gen. Hist. I, 15. Cathartes iota, Bridg. Proc. Zoöl. Soc. pl. ii, p. 108; Ann. Nat. Hist. XIII, 498. Cathartes ruficollis, Spix, Av. Bras. I, 2, 1824 (quote Catesby, pl. vi). Cathartes falklandicus, Sharpe, Ann. & Mag. N. H.

Sp. Char. Length, about 27.00–30.00; extent of wings, about 6 feet; weight, 4–5 pounds. Wing, 20.00–23.00; tail, 11.00–12.00. Culmen, about 1.00; tarsus, 2.25–2.30; middle toe, 2.50; outer, 1.55; inner, 1.25; posterior, .80. Iris umber; tarsi and toes dirty whitish, tinged with yellow or flesh-color.

Adult. Bill chalk-white; naked skin of the head and neck livid crimson, approaching dilute carmine on the cere, and sometimes with whitish papillæ on the crown and before the eye. General plumage black, this deepest and uniform on the lower parts; upper parts with a violet lustre, changing to greenish posteriorly, all the feathers of the dorsal region and the wing-coverts passing into brown on its borders. Primaries and tail-feathers dull black, their shafts clear pale brown. ♂ (No. 12,015, Maryland; M. F. Force). Wing, 22.00; tail, 12.00; culmen, .95; tarsus, 2.30; middle toe, 2.50; outer, 1.55; inner, 1.25; posterior, .30. ♀ (No. 49,681, Camp Grant, Arizona; Dr. E. Palmer). Wing, 20.00; tail, 11.50.

Young. Bill, and naked skin of the head and neck, livid blackish, the occiput and nape with more or less of whitish down. Plumage more uniformly blackish, the brownish borders above less distinct; the reflections of the plumage rather green than violaceous.

Hab. Whole of Temperate America; resident to lat. 38° north.

Localities: Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 213); Cuba? (Cab. Journ. II, lxxix; Gundlach, resident); Bahamas (Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1859); Jamaica (Gosse); Ecuador (Scl. Pr. Z. S. 1860, 287); Honduras (Scl. Ibis, II, 222); Trinidad (Taylor, Ibis, 1864, 78); S. Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 322, breeding); Arizona (Coues, Prod. 1866, 42); Para (Scl. & Salv. 1867, 589).

After having compared numerous specimens of this species from all parts of its range, including Chile, Patagonia, Terra del Fuego, the West India Islands, and all portions of Middle America and the United States, I am unable to appreciate differences according to locality, and cannot recognize any geographical races. As a rule, the specimens from intertropical regions, as might be expected, are the smallest and most brightly colored. The smallest in the series are those from Lower California.

Habits. Probably none of the birds of America have so extended a distribution as this Vulture, occurring, as it does, in greater or less abundance from high northern latitudes at the Saskatchewan, throughout North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and in all portions of South America, even to the Straits of Magellan. On the Atlantic coast it is not common north of Central New Jersey, though occasionally individuals have been seen as far north as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Several specimens have been taken in various parts of New England, from Calais, Me., to Connecticut. Mr. Lawrence cites it as of rare and irregular occurrence near New York. In one instance he noticed a company of nine individuals at Rockaway, Long Island. West of the Alleghanies it has a much less restricted distribution, from Central America almost to the Arctic regions. It is found more or less frequently in all the Middle, the Southern, Western, and Northwestern States, without an exception. It is met with in large numbers throughout the entire Pacific coast of North America, from Lower California to Washington Territory. Mr. Douglas saw vast numbers of this species in Canada, near Sandwich and Lake St. Clair, during their breeding-season. Dr. Richardson speaks of their having higher summer migrations in the interior of the continent than on the Pacific coast, finding it along the banks of the Saskatchewan, in latitude 55°, late in the month of June. Mr. Say met with them in latitude 59°, and Lewis and Clarke noticed them near the Falls of the Columbia River, in latitude 48°. Mr. Blakiston states that an individual was shot at the Red River Settlement as early as April 27, while the winter’s snow was still covering the ground to the depth of a foot and the rivers were ice-bound. He also observed it at Fort Carlton, in latitude 53°, on the 7th of May, and again, on the 2d of September, in latitude 49°.

Mr. T. H. Jackson, of West Chester, Pa., informs me that this Vulture has been known to breed at Parkersburg, fifteen miles west of the former place, in the summer of 1870, and that they also breed rather plentifully on the banks of the Susquehanna, laying their eggs, two in number, in caves among the rocks, as early as the 10th of April, and that some remain in that vicinity all winter.

Rhinogryphus aura.

Dr. Cooper mentions their great abundance during the summer in all parts of Washington Territory, frequenting the vicinity of prairies and river-banks, but never appearing along the coast. They arrive at Puget Sound about the middle of May, and undoubtedly breed in the Territory. Dr. Suckley met with them at Fort Dalles, in Oregon, and also on Puget Sound. He also met with them not far from Pembina. Dr. Newberry also observed them in California and Oregon, quite common in the vicinity of the towns and about the great rivers. In the Klamath Basin it was more rare, and on the Des Chutes he scarcely saw any; but on the Columbia, especially below the Cascades, they were very plentiful.

Dr. Heermann found this bird ranging over the whole extent of California, meeting them in great numbers in the vicinity of Fort Yuma, at the junction of the Colorado and Gila Rivers.

In the West India Islands these birds occur in Cuba, Jamaica, and Trinidad; but according to Mr. E. C. Taylor, neither this nor any other species of Vulture occurs in any of the islands between Trinidad and St. Thomas, not even in Tobago or Porto Rico. At Trinidad they are very abundant.

Mr. G. C. Taylor found this Vulture common in Honduras, where, however, it does not go much into the towns and villages, but is usually seen on the outskirts and in the forests. In Guatemala, Mr. Salvin found it not nearly so abundant as C. atratus, and there also, as in Honduras, it frequented the more uncultivated and forest districts, leaving to the latter all the duties of the scavenger. Captain C. C. Abbott found this Vulture very common in the Falkland Islands, remaining the whole year round, and breeding.

The flight of the Turkey-Buzzard is graceful, dignified, and easy. It sails with a steady, even motion, with wings just above the horizontal position, with their tips slightly raised. They rise from the ground with a single bound, give a few flaps to their wings, and then proceed with their peculiar, soaring flight. They rise very high in the air, moving round in large circles. They are of gregarious habits, and usually associate in companies of from ten to a much larger number. They feed upon all kinds of animal food, and are accused by Audubon of sucking eggs and devouring the young of Herons and other birds. Yet in Trinidad they were observed by Mr. E. C. Taylor associating with the poultry apparently upon the most amicable terms, and, although surrounded with chickens of all sizes, they were never known to molest them. Mr. Audubon also states that they devour birds of their own species when dead. They are said to walk well on the ground and on the roofs of houses, and associate and even roost in company with the Black Vulture. Dr. Heermann, who observed them on the desert between the Colorado and Carissa Creek, where they find an ample supply of food from numerous animals that there perish from want of grass and water, states that they seemed to be on terms of amity both with the Ravens and the California Vultures, but retire on the approach of the prairie wolf. He adds that when a company of these Vultures have once commenced upon a carcass, a scene of plunder, noise, confusion, and dispute ensues, baffling all description. Each one strives, as best he may, to bolt the morsel he has seized, or to rob his neighbor whose booty is too voluminous to be despatched at once. As illustrating the peculiar flight of this species, Dr. Newberry mentions that, having occasion to shoot one for the purpose of determining its identity, the wounded bird made no motion indicating it had been struck by the shot, but sailed on with widely expanded and motionless wings as before; gradually it “began to descend in wide and regular circles, till finally, without a wing-flap, it settled as lightly as a feather on the prairie, and remained motionless.” Upon going to the bird, Dr. Newberry found it resting in the grass, the wings still widely and evenly expanded, but the head drooping and life extinct.

In the Southern States this Vulture is found equally in cities and large villages, and near the coast, as well as in the interior, in company with the Black Vulture (C. atratus), although the latter species is chiefly confined to the coast, and is rare in the interior. It is noticeable that in Guatemala and Honduras its habits are somewhat different in these respects, being only found in wild places, leaving the cities and sea-coast to the exclusive occupancy of the Black Vulture. Mr. G. C. Taylor, who observed these birds in Kingston, Jamaica, states that they were the only species seen, and that they were always to be found either on the roofs of the houses or feeding on the carrion in the streets. They made great noise with their feet as they clattered over the shingles of the roofs.

In Trinidad, where Mr. E. C. Taylor found this bird much less numerous than the atratus, it kept to the open country, and was not found in the towns. He could always readily distinguish it by its more graceful flight and its aquiline appearance. They were generally to be seen skimming over the tree-tops, as if trying how near they could go without touching. On the Orinoco, though more numerous than in Trinidad, they did not frequent the towns in the same familiar manner with the Black Vulture.

The Turkey-Buzzards, as well as the Black Vultures, are evidently aided by a very powerful sight in distinguishing their food at a great distance. They are frequently known to collect in large numbers, from great distances, around the dead bodies of animals, where none were in sight before. But it seems equally certain that they are also assisted by an only less powerful sense of smell. Mr. Hill, cited by Mr. Gosse, mentions a remarkable instance where these Vultures were attracted by a strong smell of carrion to the house of a German emigrant, lying sick of a fever, and where his neglected food had become offensive. In this instance the sense of smell, unaided by that of sight, must have guided these birds.

Mr. G. C. Taylor, while residing at Kingston, often used to puzzle the Vultures by throwing dried bird-skins stuffed with cotton out upon an adjacent roof. Few seconds would elapse before a Vulture would pounce upon them, and manifest a great disappointment in finding nothing to eat in skins of so promising an appearance. He once wrapped the carcass of a bird in a piece of paper, and threw it into the top of a thickly leaved tree near his window. There it remained for a long while, the Vultures sweeping within a few feet of it, almost brushing the leaves with their wings, their sense of smell informing them that there was something eatable close by, but their sight failing to solve the problem, owing to the enclosure of the object in an envelope.