468 



ZOOLOGICAL SOt'IETV BULLETIN. 



fopyi-ight, i:iij7, by H. T. liulil 



PARENT CONDOR AND "GENERAl." 

 The man is stroking the young bird. 



though they had watched their keeper intently. 

 He now re-entered and threw down one or two 

 small bits of meat. Within a second or two, al- 

 most as tlie meat left the hand of the keeper, 

 every vulture swooped to the ground and was 

 hissing and struggling for a portion of the food. 

 Twice the Black Vultures walked close about the 

 meat box without appearing to notice the odor 

 which was clearly perceptible, even to persons 

 outside of the cage. A Turkey Vulture walked 

 to leeward, instantly turned and made his way 

 to the box, which he exam- 

 ined on all sides. He was 

 soon joined by two others of 

 the same species, and all 

 three took up their stations 

 close to the source of the 

 odor. Soon two Black Vul- 

 tures came up, apparently 

 impelled more by imitation 

 than by actual discover)' of 

 the smell. All live birds re- 

 mained for a long time 

 grouped close to the box. 

 going to it now and then, 

 and examining it carefully. 

 Thus even in the Turkey 

 Vulture the sense of smell 

 is certainly not highly de- 

 veloped, and compared witli 

 the sense of sight is defect- 

 ive indeed. 



These Buzzards, in cer- 

 tain parts of the South, have 



gained notoriety for them- 

 selves by actually killing 

 animals. Sheep have to be 

 carefully watched, as the 

 Buzzards will fcill the new- 

 born lambs by striking at 

 the e3'es. But this recenth' 

 acquired habit appears to be 

 of very rare occurrence, and 

 should in no wise militate 

 against the incalculably 

 wide-spread value of these 

 birds to mankind in the 

 tropics. 



The inception of a habit 

 such as this is easy to ex- 

 plain. On the first daj-s of 

 its existence the new-born 

 Iamb lies prostrate and mo- 

 tionless, often for several 

 hours at a time. The Buz- 

 zard, seeing it thus, natural- 

 ly supposes it to be dead, 

 and as these birds usual]}' 

 consume the ej-es of a dead animal before de- 

 vouring the remainder of the body, they natu- 

 r;illy attack tliese organs first in the young lamb. 

 If the Turkey Buzzard could l)e added to our 

 fauna, its graceful soaring form would be a 

 never-ending delight, and if farmers could be 

 made to distinguish it from e<iually harmless 

 "hen" hawks, or better still be taught to wage 

 war only on the shari)-sliinii((l and eooi>er hawk, 

 the introduction of tliisc birds might be .-u'com- 

 plislii d. 



CALIFORNIA CONDOR "GENERAL" IN THE ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 



