VULTURES 



57 



many times more powerful than human vision. 

 Suddenly it will appear from nowhere in the sky 

 above, coming directly downward to a dead ani- 

 mal no larger than a cat which it has seen, 

 although it was out of sight itself. If one de- 

 scends, others are discovered shooting in long 

 slants toward the spot ; these in turn are followed 

 by others until all the X'ultures which were in 

 the air for many miles around have congregated 

 at the feast. 



"The food of the Turkey Huzzard is mainly 

 carrion, but it also eats snakes, toads, and prob- 

 ably rats, mice, and occasionally young birds 

 that chance to fall in its wav. It does not, how- 



ever, attack poultry or game birds, nor does it 

 regularly search for and destroy the nests of 

 other birds. On the whole it is a beneficial species 

 and should be rigorously ])rotected." ( Barrows.) 

 At Cocoanut Grove, Florida, we amused our- 

 selves by catching some of these ungainly birds 

 with a lasso laid on the ground and encircling 

 some bait. A number fought to escape ; others 

 simulated death, remaining in ;m apparently un- 

 conscious condition for ten minutes at a stretch. 

 We decorated them with paper collars and cufTs 

 and a few bits of ribbon, then released them and 

 they flew aloft like aerial mountebanks. 



R. 1. Brasher. 



BLACK VULTURE 

 Catharista urubu ( i'icillot) 



A. O. U. Xumber 326 

 Other Names. — Black Buzzard: Carrion Crow; up back of head in a point 



Black Scavenger. 



Description. — Length. 

 4'/: feet. Head, naked ; 



;~ inches ; spread of wings, 

 feathers of neck extended 



wings, when folded. 

 lo not reach to the tip of the tail ; compared with the 

 Turkey \'uUure. its tail is decidedly shorter, wing- 

 strokes more frequent, is built more stunipily and weighs 



BLACK VtJLTtniES 

 On the street in Charleston, South Carolina 



