_Vultur atratus_, BARTRAM, Trav. Carol. 285, 1792.—MEYER, Zool. Ann.
I, 290.—ORD (WILS.) Am. Orn. pl. lxxv, f. 2.—AUD. Birds Am. pl.
cvi.—BREWST. Ed. Journ. Sc. Ser. 1, VI, 156. _Cathartes atratus_,
LESS. Man. Orn. I, 73, 1828.—RICH. & SWAINS. F. B. A. II, 6,
1831.—DARW. Journ. Res. p. 68; Zool. Beag. pt. iii, p. 7.—SWAINS.
Classif. B. II, 206.—JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. I, 10.—BREWER (WILS.) Am.
Orn. Synop. Birds Am. p. 682.—IB. N. A. Oölogy.—AUD. Synop. Birds Am.
p. 3.—BRIDG. Proc. Zoöl. Soc. pt. xi, p. 108; Am. Nat. Hist. XIII,
498.—BONAP. Consp. p. 9.—DE KAY, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 3.—REICH. Prakt.
Nat. Vög. p. 27.—CASS. Bird N. Am. 1858, 5.—COUES, Key, 1872, 222.
_Catharista atratus_, GRAY, Hand List, I, 1869, 3, No. 16. _Vultur
aura niger_ β, KERR, Transl. Gmel. 473, 1792. _Vultur aura_ (not of
Linn.!), DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 19 (quotes Pl. Enl. 187, 1800). _Vultur
urubu_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. pl. ii, 1807.—LATH. Gen. Hist. I, 14.
_Cathartes urubu_, LESS. Tr. Orn. p. 27, 1831.—D’ORB. Voy. Am. Mérid.
Ois. p. 31, pl. i. _Percnopterus urubu_, STEPH. Zoöl. XIII, 7, pl.
xxxi, 1826. _Vultur iota_, JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. III, 226, 1832.—ORD
(WILS.) Am. Orn. (ed. 2). _Neophron iota_, CUV. Règ. An. (ed. 2),
I, 317, 1829. _Cathartes iota_, BONAP. Ann. Lyc. N. B. p. 23; Isis,
1832, p. 1135; List, p. 1.—KING, Voy. Beag. I, 532.—NUTT. MAN. I,
46.—PEALE, U. S. Expl. Exp. VIII, 59. _Cathartes fœtens_, ILLIG. Mus.
Berol.—LICHT. Verz. Doubl. p. 63, 1823.—GRAY, Gen. B. sp. 1, pl. i, f.
3.—MAX. Beitr. III, 58.—RICH. SCHOMB. Faun. Brit. Guian. p. 742.—CAB.
Av. Consp. Wieg. Archiv, 1844, 262; Faun. Per. Orn. p. 71.—HARTL.
Syst. Ind. Azar. p. 1.
SP. CHAR. Form heavy; the wings and tail short, the latter square; the
remiges and rectrices very hard and stiff. Bill strong, the mandibles
broader than deep, and of about equal depth, the terminal hook well
developed; upper and lower outlines of the cere parallel, and nearly
straight. Nostril narrow, its anterior end contracted and pointed. Wing,
17.00–17.50; tail, 7.50–8.50; culmen, .90–.95; tarsus, 3.00; middle toe,
2.90; outer, 1.90; inner, 1.50; posterior, .75.
_Adult._ Bill blackish, the point horny white; naked skin of the
head and upper part of the neck blackish. Entire plumage continuous,
perfectly uniform dull black; primaries becoming grayish basally (more
hoary whitish on their under surface), their shafts pure white for their
whole length.
♂ (11933, St. Simon’s Island, Georgia; Dr. Wilson). Wing, 17.50; tail,
8.25.
HAB. Tropical and warmer portions of America, especially near the
sea-coast.
HABITS. The Black Vulture or Carrion Crow of the Southern States, though
found in a much less extended area than the Turkey Vulture, has yet a
very wide distribution. It is quite common along our Atlantic and Gulf
coasts from North Carolina to Mexico. It does not occur on the Pacific
coast of the United States, though given by Douglas as being abundant
on the Columbia River; indeed, it has not, that I am aware of, been
detected west of the Rocky Mountains. It is, however, as Dr. Gambel
states, very common about the Gulf of California, and at Mazatlan,
particularly, he saw it around the town in large companies. On the
Atlantic coast it is not often met with farther north than Wilmington,
N. C. I could not detect it near Norfolk, Va., nor could I ascertain
that it was known ever to occur there. Accidental specimens have been
taken, two on the coast of Massachusetts and one in the Bay of Fundy;
but such occurrences are very rare. Along the coast of all the Southern
States, from North Carolina to Texas, it is much more abundant than
its kindred species, even where, in the interior of the same State,
it is far less frequent. Along the banks of the Mississippi and its
tributaries, as far as Ohio to the east and Illinois to the north, it
is found more or less abundantly at certain seasons. It is met with
in several of the West India Islands, though rare in Jamaica. It is
abundant throughout Central America, and occurs in nearly all parts of
South America. Specimens were brought from Chile by Lieutenant Gilliss,
obtained near Santiago, where it was not common, and only found in the
mountainous regions of the interior. Darwin fixes its extreme southern
limit in latitude 41° south, near the Rio Negro, and he did not meet
with any in Chile or Patagonia.
Mr. E. C. Taylor, in his paper on the Birds of the West Indies, mentions
the great abundance of Black Vultures at Port of Spain, in Trinidad.
They swarmed over the town, covered the roofs of the houses, and lived
on the best terms with the poultry. So tame and familiar were they that
he often poked them with his stick or umbrella as he walked through the
streets. At night they roosted in the trees in the gardens and squares
of the town. They were very abundant all over Trinidad and in the parts
of Venezuela he visited, but he found none in any of the islands from
Trinidad to St. Thomas. This species was not found in Jamaica by Mr.
Gosse, but Mr. March afterwards reported it as a “recent settler.”
[Illustration: _Catharista atrata._]
Mr. G. C. Taylor (Ibis, 1860, p. 22) found the Black Vulture very
abundant in Honduras, where it is always to be seen in the villages,
sitting on the roofs of the houses, wheeling in flocks high in the air,
or feeding on the offal in the streets. They were very tame and very
numerous, forty or fifty being frequently seen in a single company. They
abounded in all parts of Central America that he visited.
With the exception of _Quiscalus macrurus_, Mr. Salvin regards this
species as the most familiar bird in Guatemala. At night they retired to
the forests, and in the early morning trooped back to their posts in the
streets and lanes, and about the tops of the houses and churches. They
generally nested in the forests, though in Antigua Guatemala they were
said to use the ruins of the old churches for that purpose.
Mr. Dresser found this Vulture about equally common with the _R.
aura_ on the Lower Rio Grande, but much less common near San Antonio.
He usually found the two species in company, attended also by the
_Polyborus auduboni_ and _Craxirex harrisi_. They were found breeding
among the rocks at Systerdale, where they were said to be the only
species found.
Dr. Coues did not meet with any in Arizona, nor were any taken on the
survey of the Mexican boundary. In South Carolina he considered it
chiefly confined to the lower country, while the _C. aura_ is more
generally distributed over the State. The two meet together freely, and
as they circle about in each other’s company they afford an excellent
opportunity of noticing the great differences in their mode of flight
and in the outline of their bodies and wings. On the other hand, Wilson,
Ord, and others deny that the two kinds live together.
In the Southern Atlantic cities, especially Charleston and Savannah, the
Black Vulture is a semi-domestic bird, and is very abundant. It is also
to be found in the interior, but is neither so common nor so tame.
The _Catharista atratus_ is said to be much more sensitive to cold
than the _aura_, and when the weather is at all unfavorable they cower
around the tops of chimneys to enjoy the heat. Though tolerated and even
protected by law, their filthy habits render them a source of annoyance
to those whose houses they frequent. Their value as scavengers and
the services they render in the removal of offal render them almost a
necessity in Southern cities.
Both in their mode of flight and in their movements upon the ground
this species differs materially from the Turkey-Buzzard. The latter
walks steadily while on the ground, and when it mounts does so by a
single upward spring. The Black Vulture is ill at ease on the ground,
moves awkwardly, and when it essays to fly upward takes several leaps
in a shuffling sidelong manner before it can rise. Their flight is more
labored, and is continued by flapping several times, alternating with
sailing a limited distance. Their wings are held at right angles, and
their feet protrude beyond their tail-feathers. In all these respects
the differences between the two birds are very noticeable, and plainly
mark the species.
Mr. Audubon states that at the commencement of the mating-season, early
in February, the gesticulations of the males are very conspicuous. They
strut in the manner of a Turkey-cock, open their wings, lower their
heads, and utter a puffing sound that is anything but musical.
Alexander Wilson describes with great minuteness a scene he witnessed
near Charleston, where the carcass of a horse was devoured by these
birds, the ground for hundreds of yards around being black with them.
He counted at one time two hundred and thirty-seven, while others
were in the air flying around. He ventured within a few yards of the
horse without their heeding his presence. They frequently attacked
one another, fighting with their claws and striking with their open
wings, fixing their claws in each other’s head. They made a hissing
sound with open mouths, resembling that produced by thrusting a red-hot
poker into water, and occasionally a snuffling noise, as if clearing
their nostrils. At times one would emerge with a large fragment, and in
a moment would be surrounded by several others, who would tear it in
pieces and soon cause it to disappear.
The Black Vulture breeds on or near the ground in the same manner as the
Turkey-Buzzard, in hollow logs, decayed trunks of trees, and stumps,
and also without this protection, the bare earth only being made use
of. It is said to make no nest. The eggs seldom, if ever, exceed two
in number. These are greater, both in their length and capacity, than
those of the Turkey-Buzzard, although the measurements of the birds
themselves would seem to show the latter to be apparently the larger
bird. The average weight of the Black Vulture’s egg, however, is about
one pound, or fifteen per cent greater than that of the Buzzard.
Three from Charleston, Galveston, and the Rio Grande furnish the
following measurements: 3.81 inches by 1.94; 3 by 2.06; 3.06 by 1.94.
The principal difference between the eggs of this and the preceding
species is in regard to their size. Their ground-color is the same, or
nearly the same,—a yellowish-white or cream-color, almost never a pure
white, and only in exceptional cases. The eggs are more elongate in
their shape, and the blotches are usually larger. These are of a dark
reddish-brown, confluent, and chiefly distributed around the larger
end. There are also markings, smaller and less frequent, of lilac and
purplish-drab, similar to those noticed in the eggs of _C. aura_. An
egg from the Rio Grande is marked with small spots of reddish-brown and
obscure lilac, equally distributed over the whole surface on a ground of
cream-color.
Mr. Audubon is positive that this Vulture never breeds in trees, and
that they never build any nest, but deposit their eggs on the ground,
on a dead log, or in a hollow tree. Twenty-one days are required for
hatching their eggs, on which the male and female sit by turns and feed
each other. The young are covered with a light cream-colored down, and
are fed with regurgitated food, in the manner of Pigeons. As soon as
they are able, they follow their parents through the woods, at which
period their entire head and neck, which afterwards become bare, are
covered with feathers.