BLACK VULTURE 29 



admirers, who, with their wings partly spread, were rapidly duck- 

 ing their heads to her like well-trained servants. She paid little 

 attention, and soon turned her back on them. They persisted in 

 their attentions till she finally got disgusted and flew away, with her 

 suitors in close pursuit." 

 Audubon (1840) gives a more graphic account as follows: 



At the commencement of the love season, which is about the beginning of 

 February, the gesticulations and parade of the males are extremely ludicrous. 

 They first strut somewhat in the manner of the Turkey Cock, then open their 

 wings, and, as they approach the female, lower their head, its wrinkled skin 

 becoming loosened, so as entirely to cover the bill, and emit a puffing sound, 

 which is by no means musical. When these actions have been repeated five or 

 sis times, and the conjugal compact sealed, the "happy pair" fly off and remain 

 together until their young come abroad. 



Simmons (1925) describes the courtship of the black vulture as 

 observed in Texas : 



During February and to the middle of March, tlie love-flight or courtship 

 flight of the two birds may often be seen at the breeding grounds, lasting 

 from two to ten minutes, in rapid, prolonged, wide-spreading circles. In the 

 air over a thickly-populated nesting area, such as a honey-combed cliff or 

 canyon wall in the hills, as many as 25 or 50 pairs may be seen going through 

 these nuptial ceremonies during early March, presenting a slowly-moving, 

 gyrating maelstrom, circling and sailing in close spirals, one of a pair con- 

 tinually following the other; out of this maelstrom a female occasionally 

 drops, the male a few feet behind, and then a chase ensues, dropping, darting, 

 wheeling with incredible speed, wing tips of one touching the wing tips of 

 the other in the twists and turns of the play. A male performing before a 

 female perched high on a dead tree overlooking the chasm often circles high 

 in front of her, half folds his wings and dives straight for the earth, his 

 wings shrilling and whistling until he zooms upward again to resume his 

 circling. 



C. J. Pennock writes: "What I take for a mating-time flight I 

 have noted frequently in February and early March [in Wakulla 

 County, Fla.], namely two birds in rapid flight in close company 

 through the tree tops and open country, sometimes lasting three to 

 five minutes." 



Wayne (1910) says of South Carolina: "The birds mate in Febru- 

 ary, and when engaged in this pleasure utter a hissing sound which 

 can be heard at a distance of several hundred yards." 



S. A. Grimes sends us the following account : 



I was returning home from a short trip to Baldwin Bay and noticed two 

 vultures in a tall dead cypress in a swamp about 300 yards off the highway. 



This aroused my curiosity, and I turned into a road that put me within 100 

 yards of the birds. Without getting out of the car, I focused my glasses on 

 the birds and presently saw one hop over to the branch on which the other 

 was perched. This bird, which was undoubtedly the male, alighted with his 

 wings outstretched above his back and, holding them in this position, sidled 

 up so close to the other that she was forced to back away on tlie limb. Losing 



