THE TURKEY VULTURE. 551 



That these and other birds do accompHsh this feat is a fact patent to all 

 careful observers. How they do it — well, that is another matter. "The 

 way of an Eagle (\'ulture) in the air" has puzzled more than wise Agur. 



The American Vulture is not a high-flyer like those of the Orient. In 

 his case, howe\-er, it is still clearly evident that entire dependence is ])Iaced 

 ujjon the eyesight in the detection of food. .Vn immense e.xtent of territorv 

 is co\'ered by a Buzzard on his daily roimds. Xo \isible corruption escapes 

 his notice, but the odor of half-covered carrion nun* become almost palpable 

 before it attracts his attention. A possible reason for this inability to locate 

 carrion by the sense of smell alone is disclosed in the words of Coues : "Cer- 

 tain it is that independent of the passing contents of the alimentarv canal, 

 permanent fceticl odors exhale from the bones and muscles: and the same 

 stench is entangled in the web of the feathers. It is retained for a long while 

 e\'en after the bird is killed and stuffed. So strong is it that one author, an 

 excellent naturalist, tuo, fancied it must he rather unpleasant to the birds 

 themsel\-es." Since the birds, therefore, reek with filth themsehes, they are 

 not in a position to exercise discrimination with reference to external scents. 

 It does not seem to be true, as has sometimes been asserted, that the birds 

 really ])refer decayed flesh. It is rather a matter of necessit\- for them, in- 

 asmuch as they are unable, except in rare instances. t<i rend a carcass suffi- 

 ciently bef(ire an adwmced stage of decomposition has set in. 



Turkey \'ultures are much more common east of the Mountains than 

 upon Puget Sound. This is doubtless due to the more open character of the 

 cotmtr}', as well as to the de\-elopment of the cattle and sheep business. Almost 

 exclusive attention is paid to the carcasses of the larger animals, since few of 

 the smaller animals die of themseh'es except when poisoned. On the prairies 

 of Pierce and Thurston Counties ]\Ir. Bowles lias seen them supplement their 

 scant}' fare by a diet of grasshoppers. In late summer and in autumn they 

 appear to increase in numbers in \\'hatcom Count v and in the Eraser Ri\-er 

 delta, where the}- gorge tliemsehes, in common with the gulls and crows, 

 upon decayed salmon and cannery waste. 



Vultures nest in trees, in crannies of clitTs, or upon the ground, according 

 to the nature of the counli'\' in which they find themselves. Upon the East- 

 side they appear to find abundant shelter among the frequent outcroppings of 

 Columbia lava. In Yakima County, early in ^lay, I took a set of eggs on the 

 point of hatching, from a ca\'e in a basaltic escarpment which o\'erlooks the 

 Natchez River. The fissure runs into the clifif about twelve feet, but the eggs 

 were only seven feet in. The odor of the place was overpowering, and I did 

 not stop to in\-estigate the iirigin of a certain metallic clink which later reflec- 

 tion suggested might have come from a piece of hoop-iron in the accumulated 

 waste on the floor of the ca\'e. Returning several years later to satisfy mvself 

 upon this point, I clambered up to the entrance of the cave and clung to the 



