Bulletin - United States National Museum - si-pddr - Smithsonian ...

BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 91
the eastern foothills of the Andes, along the entire western border
of the Republic.
CATHARTES AURA JOTA (Molina)
Vulcur Jota Molina, Sagg. Stor. Nat. Chili, 1782, p. 265. (Chile.)
On April 25 and 27 turkey vultures were observed near Concon,
in the Intendencia of Valparaiso, Chile. No specimens were secured
so that these notes are allocated here solely on geographical evidence.
CORAGYPS URUBU FOETENS (Lichtenstein)
Cathartes foetens Lichtenstein, Verz. Ausg. Saiig. und Vog. Zool. Mus.
Kon. Univ. Berlin, 1818, p. 30. (Paraguay.)
The black vulture, common in the warmer regions that I visited,
had habits identical with those of the species in the southern United
States. It was recorded as follows : Resistencia, Chaco, July 8, 1920 ,
Las Palmas, Chaco, July 17 to August 1 ;
Riacho Pilaga, Formosa,
August 7 to 19; Formosa, Formosa, August 23 and 24; Puerto
Pinasco, Paraguay, September 1 to 23 (seen west to a point 110
kilometers from the Rio Paraguay ; Las Flores, Maldonado, Uruguay,
Januar}^ 22, 1921; San Vicente, Uruguay, January 26; Tunuyan,
Mendoza, March 22 and 24; Tapia, Tucuman, April 11; Concon,
Chile, April 25. About temporary camps of woodcutters in the
Chaco these birds gathered in flocks to secure offal from the killing
pens where meat was prepared for human consumption. In cattle
country carcasses of horses and other animals offered a supply of
food. In the town of Rio Negro, Uruguay, on Februarj^ 18 I saw
a tamed bird running about in the streets, with no fear of dogs
or pedestrians. It was of interest to note that in the Chaco I saw
three species of vultures in view at the same time on several occasions,
while a white-breasted bird seen soaring high in air may have been
the king vulture, so that it may be possible there to find four forms
of this family together.
The matter of subspecies in the black vulture is still open to
question, as in a limited series I do not find any sharply trenchant
difference between northern and southern birds. Todd ^^ in a recent
consideration of the bird does not recognize geogi'aphic races.
Specimens from Florida and Georgia have wing measurements
ranging, irrespective of sex, from 420 to 436 mm. In one from
Chile the wing is 405 mm., while in an adult female that I killed
on April 11, 1921 (skull alone preserved), the wing measured 433
mm. It is possible that there are more than two forms involved. I
have followed current usage in recognition of a southern race as the
specimens available are not sufficient to enable an independent
opinion in the matter. Cathartes foetens of Lichtenstein is given in
«» Ann. Carnegie Mu.s., vol. 14, 1922, p. 142.