I3S 



downj' jouug. 1 am iufoiiut^d that these birds, in 

 Lancaster and York counties, alon^; the Susiiuehauua 

 river, are annually to be found breeding in small com- 

 munities of a dozen or twenty individuals. The species 

 also breeds regularly in Adams and Cumberland coun- 

 ties; in Adams county it is reported to be tiuite plenii 

 ful as a summer resident. 



Devoured Grasshoppers and Beetles. 

 This bird will resort for several consecutive seasons 

 to a favorite nesting place, and occasionally when its 

 eggs are taken will lay a second time in the same nest. 

 The Turkey "N'ultuie is very numerous in the southern 

 states, where it resides all the year, but in the eastern 

 United States, north of Pennsylvania, it is said to be 

 (juite rare. Two young which I took from the nest 

 and kept in captivity until full grown became exceed- 

 ingly tame. These birds often when feeding, and in- 

 variably if approached by a stranger, would utter a 

 loud hiss, the only sound which this species, as well as 

 other of the American Vultures, is known to make. 

 They fed chiefly on fresh meat, and also devoured with 

 apparent relish earth-worms, crickets, grasshoppers 

 and other large insects; oftentimes thej- also ate pieces 

 of bread, cake and particles of apples or pears which 

 were thrown before them. The Turkey Buzzard, in 

 its natural state, according to Audubon, sucks the 

 eggs and devours the young of herons and other birds. 

 Turkey Buzzards do not, as some persons aftirm, dis- 

 turb domestic fowls, and rarely are these cowardly 

 birds seen to destroy the eggs of poultry. T have 

 never known them to distui'b either the eggs or young 

 of birds, but have observed that they subsist almost 

 wholly on cairion. Tiie benefits which these scaven- 

 gers render arc ton well known to need any comment. 



