THE SENSE OF SMELL IN BIRDS 651 
a turkey vulture was flushed from the entrance of a gopher-turtle 
hole. The bird showed a great disinclination to leave the spot 
although other individuals which were seen by the writer outside 
of cities were disposed to be wild. A dead gopher-turtle was 
found inside the burrow. It was impossible to view the turtle 
except when in a position to look down the oblique burrow, and 
it did not seem probable that a bird when flying overhead could 
see the body. <A very strong odor of carrion prevailed for some 
distance on the lee side of the burrow. 
The writer could not rule out the possibility that the vulture 
had found the turtle outside of the hole through its sense of vision 
and had later pushed the body inside, but it seemed unlikely that 
this had happened. The circumstances all appeared to favor 
the conclusion that the carrion had been smelled, even though 
the evidence was far from conclusive. The well known natural- 
ist, Henry Nehrling, whose estate was the headquarters of the 
writer during his stay in Florida, has also conducted some experi- 
ments with turkey vultures. He placed meat under boxes, and 
vultures actually alighted on these covers. 
On September 6, 1909, the writer attempted a simple experi- 
ment on the sense of smell in Apteryx, at the London Zoological 
Gardens. Through the kindness of Mr. Pocock, three specimens 
of Apteryx mantelli were available. These birds were kept in 
a pen next to one occupied by some young kangaroos. The 
study was made in the evening after dark at the usual feeding time 
for the birds. 
At the advice of a keeper, earthworms were selected for the 
experiments, as much appreciated food. Some flower pots partly 
filled with soil were placed in a row at one end of the pen, and one 
of the pots contained the worms. <A very small amount of light 
from a lantern was used in order to note the movements of the 
birds, and even the feeble light which was employed was enough 
to check the activity of two. The third individual approached 
the pots rather shyly and inserted its beak at random. On two 
occasions, it seemed as though contact with the worms must have 
been nearly or quite effected, but the bird did not discover the 
food at these times. Eventually, the worms were located, appar- 
