In this sense the name is most appropriate; as such conduct presents a striking analogy to that of most human kings, towards the _common_ people.
"Next to the condor in size," continued the naturalist, "and, perhaps, quite equal to him, is the great _Californian vulture_--the `condor of the north.' He is classed among the purging-vultures (_Cathartes Californianus_).

This bird may be called black, as he is nearly of that hue all over the body; although some of the secondary wing feathers are white at the tips, and the coverts are brown.

Black, however, is the prevailing colour of the bird.

His naked head and neck is reddish; but he wants the crest or comb, which the condors and king-vultures have.
On the posterior part of his neck, long lance-shaped feathers form a sort of ruff or collar, as in other birds of this kind.
"The Californian vulture derives his name from the country which he inhabits--the great chain of the Californian mountains--the Sierra Nevada--which extends almost without interruption through twenty degrees of latitude.

That he sometimes visits the Rocky Mountains, and their kindred the Cordilleras of the Sierra Madre in Mexico, there can be little doubt.