Turkey Vulture. 285- 



are abundant, as they are in the southern part of our 

 State, they nest in community, but in this section they 

 breed in scattered pairs. In mountainous localities they 

 are said to make their nests in the hollows and recesses 

 of rocky slopes. On the prairies and in the bottom lands 

 they choose the natural cavities of the forest trees, and 

 often deposit their eggs in depressions at the bases of 

 trees or stumps. A branchless trunk of a giant cotton- 

 wood, fully fifty feet high and containing a cavity at the 

 top about five feet deep, standing in the formerly dense 

 woods near my home, was regularly used by turkey vul- 

 tures as a place to rear their young. Fallen logs contain- 

 ing hollows are favorite sites for their homes, as well as 

 retired spots on the ground in thick clumps of bushes. 



The turkey vultures do not take the trouble to make a 

 nest, but content themselves with the condition of the site 

 as they find it. Frequently only one egg is laid, and in 

 other instances two are deposited. They are yellowish 

 white or creamy, irregularly spotted, and are marked 

 with shades of brown, and have deeper markings of lilac 

 and purplish drab. They average about 2.75 by 1.85 in 

 inches. Sets of two are recorded as more common than 

 sets of one Qgg. Their breeding quarters are very offen- 

 sive from the rank odor peculiar to the birds, and after 

 the young are hatched and require nourishment the place 

 becomes additionally offensive from the half digested, pu- 

 trid matter disgorged by the parent to feed the young. 

 The newly-hatched young are quite comical in their soft 

 white down, and nothing except their disagreeable odor 

 and repulsive surroundings indicates that they are to be- 

 come similar to their elders, and perform a part so neces- 

 sary in the wonderful economy of nature. 



The turkey vultures do not confine themselves to car- 

 rion in their food, for where they are abundant they are 

 said frequently to seize and eat young pigs-and lambs. 

 Dr. Elliott Coues says that one excellent service that the 

 turkey vultures render in warm countries is the destruc- 

 tion of alligators' eggs. The items referred to, however, 

 are only occasional variations from their regular diet, and 

 it is generally accepted that the services rendered by the 



