348 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



illustrating the peculiar flight of this species, Dr. Newberry mentions that, 

 having occasion to shoot one for the purpose of determining its identity, the 

 wounded bird made no motion indicating it had been struck by the shot, but 

 sailed on with widely expanded and motionless wings as before ; gradually it 

 "began to descend in wide and regular circles, till finally, without a wing- 

 flap, it settled as lightly as a feather on tlie prairie, and remained motion- 

 less." Upon going to the bird. Dr. Newberry found it resting in the grass, 

 the wings still widely and evenly expanded, but the head drooping and life 

 extinct. 



In the Southern States this Vulture is found equally in cities and large 

 villages, and near the coast, as well as in the interior, in company with the 

 Black Vulture {C. atratus), although the latter species is chiefly confined to 

 the coast, and is rare in the interior. It is noticeable that in Guatemala and 

 Honduras its habits are somewhat different in these respects, being only 

 found in wild places, leaving the cities and sea-coast to the exclusive occu- 

 pancy of the Black Vulture. Mr. G. C. Taylor, who observed these birds in 

 Kingston, Jamaica, states that they were the only species seen, and that they 

 were always to be found either on the roofs of the houses or feeding on the 

 carrion in the streets. They made great noise with their feet as they clat- 

 tered over the shingles of the roofs. 



In Trinidad, where Mr. E. C. Taylor found this bird much less numerous 

 than the atratus, it kept to the open country, and was not found in the 

 towns. He could always readily distinguish it by its more graceful flight 

 and its aquiline appearance. They were generally to be seen skimming 

 over the tree-tops, as if trying how near they could go Mdtliout touching. 

 On the Orinoco, though more numerous than in Trinidad, they did not 

 frequent the towns in the same familiar manner with the Black Vulture. 



The Turkey-Buzzards, as well as the Black Vultures, are evidently aided by 

 a very powerful sight in distinguishing their food at a great distance. They 

 are frequently known to collect in large numbers, from great distances,, 

 around the dead bodies of animals, where none Avere in sight before. But it 

 seems equally certain that they are also assisted by an only less powerful 

 sense of smell. Mr. Hill, cited by Mr. Gosse, mentions a remarkable instance 

 where these Vultures were attracted by a strong smell of carrion to the 

 house of a German emigrant, lying sick of a fever, and where his neglected 

 food had become offensive. In this instance the sense of smell, unaided by 

 that of sight, must have guided these birds. 



Mr. G. C. Taylor, while residing at Kingston, often used to puzzle the 

 Vultures by throwing dried bird-skins stuffed with cotton out upon an 

 adjacent roof. Few seconds would elapse before a Vulture would pounce 

 upon tliem, and manifest a great disappointment in finding nothing to eat in 

 skins of so promising an appearance. He once wrapped the carcass of a bird 

 in a piece of paper, and threw it into the top of a thickly leaved tree near 

 his window. There it remained for a long while, the Vultures sweeping 



