16 TURKEY VULTURE. 



He cautiously approached, and springing upon the unsuspicious 

 group, grasped a fine plump fellow in his arms, and was bear- 

 ing off his prize in triumph, when lo ! the indignant Vulture dis- 

 gorged such a torrent of filth in the face of our hero, that it 

 produced all the effects of the most powerful emetic, and for 

 ever cured him of his inclination for Turkey-buzzards. 



On the continent of America this species inhabits a vast range 

 of territory, being common,* it is said, from Nova Scotia to 

 Terra del Fuego.t How far, on the Pacific, to the northward 

 of the river Columbia, they are found, we are not informed; 

 but it is ascertained that they extend their migrations to the 

 latter, allured thither by the quantity of dead salmon, which at 

 certain seasons line its shores. 



They are numerous in the West India islands, where they 

 are said to be " far inferior in size to those of North America. "J 

 This leads us to the inquiry, whether or not the present species 

 has been confounded by the naturalists of Europe, with the 

 Black Vulture, or Carrion Crow, which is so common in the 

 southern parts of our continent. If not, why has the latter been 

 totally overlooked in the most noted Ornithologies with which 

 the world has been favoured, when it is so conspicuous and 

 remarkable, that there is no stranger who visits South Carolina, 

 Georgia, or the Spanish provinces, but is immediately struck 

 with the novelty of its appearance? We can find no cause for 

 the Turkey-buzzards of the islands being smaller than ours, 



* In the northern states of our union the Turkey-buzzard is only occasional- 

 ly seen, it is considered a rare bird by the inhabitants. 



f Great numbers of a species of Vulture, commonly called Carrion Crow by 

 the sailors, ( Vullur aura,) were seen upon this island (New-year's island, near 

 Cape Horn, lat. 55 S. 67 W.) and probably feed on young seal-cubs, which 

 either die in the birth, or which they take an opportunity to seize upon.'* 

 Cook calls them Turkey-buzzards. Forster's Voy. n, p. 516, quarto, London, 

 1777. 



$ Pennant, Arctic Zoology. 



The Vulture which Sir Hans Sloane figured and described, and which he 

 says is common in Jamaica, is undoubtedly the Vultur aura; " The head and 

 an inch in the neck are bare and without feathers, of a flesh colour, cov- 

 ered with a thin membrame, like that of turkies, with which the most part of 

 the bill is covered likewise; bill (below the membrane) more than an inch 





