58 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



more. Adults (sexes alike) : Head and a part of 

 the neck, covered with a black wrinkly and lumpy skin ; 

 general color of entire plumage, blackish; shafts of 

 primaries, white fading to dull gray at base; bill, black- 

 ish, the tip, dull yellowish-white; iris, brownish-hazel; 

 legs, grayish-white with black claws. 



Nest and Eggs. — Eggs : i to 3, laid on the ground 

 under the protection of logs or bushes or in rock cavi- 



ties ; pale greenish or bluish-white marked irregularly 

 round the larger end with various shades of brown or 

 brownish-purple ; deposited from March to May. 



Distribution. — From western Te.xas, Kansas, Illinois, 

 Indiana, and southeastern Virginia, south through the 

 Southern States, Mexico, and Central America to fiouth- 

 ern South America ; casual in Ohio, New York, Maine, 

 Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. 



To the visitor for the first time in the South 

 the appearance of that dusky scavenger the 

 Black Vulture, calmly walking around in the 

 streets as domesticated and as unafraid as the 

 English Sparrow of northern cities, strikes him 

 as a little odd. 



The careful disposal of dead animals, so neces- 

 sary in the North, is not required within bounds 

 of this bird's habitat. Anywhere that animals are 

 slaughtered will be found numbers of these Vul- 

 tures waiting patiently on fences roofs, or any 



convenient perch, for their share of ofifal. They 

 are carefully protected, a heavy fine being im- 

 posed by law for their destruction. So universal 

 is the recognition of their services that even 

 without any lawful protection it is doubtful if 

 any would be destroyed. 



They are easy to distinguish, even at a distance 

 and in the air, from the Turkey Vulture by the 

 short squarish tail and more blocky outlines. 

 Nearby the white under wing-coverts are distinc- 

 tive. 



EAGLES, HAWKS, AND KITES 



Order Raptorcs; suborder Falconcs : family Biiteonidcc 



HE Eagles, Hawks, and Kites comprise the family Butconidar. They are 

 diurnal birds of prey. Like the Owls, the Falcons, and the Vultures, they 

 have strongly hooked bills with a cere or waxlike membrane around the base. 

 Their feet have three toes permanently pointed forward and one turned 

 backward; the claws or talons are long, curved, extremely acute, and flexibly 

 jointed to the toes. The tarsus is shorter than the tibia, scaled in front, and 

 partly feathered. The leg is well feathered, usually below the knee joint, 

 and the long feathers (the "flag") are well developed. The wings are ample 

 and usually somewhat rounded in shape. The tail is variable as to relative 

 length and shape but usually contains twelve feathers. In general appearance 

 these birds are heavy. Their prey is killed by the sharp claws and torn to 

 pieces with the bill. 



The Buteonidcc are found both in the eastern and in the western hemisphere. In the 

 United States and Canada are twenty species of regular or accidental occurrence. 



Many of the species included in this family return to the same neighborhood and often 

 to the same nest, year after year, and some are known to mate for life. They breed slowly, 

 rearing but one brood a year, though, if the first set of eggs be destroyed, another will be 

 laid. The period of incubation is about four weeks; the young when hatched are covered 

 or partially covered with down, but before they leave the nest they are fully feathered. 



The food habits and the economic value of these rapacious birds are thus summarized 

 by Dr. A. K. Fisher: " The young grow slowly and need a relatively large amount of food. 

 To satisfy their hunger requires constant foraging on the part of the parents, and the strain 

 of rearing the family is probably twice that of any of the other land birds. Even the adults 

 are large eaters, gorging to the utmost when the opportunity presents; and as digestion is 

 very rapid and assimilation perfect, a great quantity of food in relation to the body weight 

 is consumed every day. Hawks and Owls often swallow their smaller victims entire, and 

 tear the larger ones into several pieces, swallowing each fragment as it is detached. After 



