137 



TURKEY VULTURE. 

 i Oathartes aura. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Entire plumage brownish-black, and more or less glossy; 

 quills paler on under surface; skin of head and neck naked 

 and wrinkled, with scattering bristle-like feathers; head and 

 neck red. bill whitish, legs and feet pinkish, iris grayish- 

 brown nostrils large and oval. 



Nestlings.— Bsive skin of head nearly white, body covered with 

 white down. Length about thirty inches; extent of wings about 

 se'^enty-two inches; wing about twenty-five; tail twelve inches. 



Habitat. — Temperate North America, from New Jersey. Ohio 

 Valley, Saskatchewan region and Washington Territory, south- 

 ward to Patagonia, casually northward on the .\tlantic coast 

 to Maine. 



This species is found iu some sections of Pennsyl- 

 vania at all seasons, but during the summer months is 

 much more plentiful than at other times. The Turkey 

 Buzzard usually rears its young in woods or thickets, 

 mostly near streams of water. It makes little or no 

 effort to construct a nest; the eggs — never more than 

 two in number and occasionally only one — are de- 

 posited generally in a slight concavity in the ground 

 protected by shelving or overhanging rocks. Some 

 times, however, the nests of this bird are found in 

 stumps and hollow logs. The eggs are yellowish white, 

 spotted with different shades of brown and purple, and 

 measure about (wo and three-fourths inches in length 

 by nearly two inches in breadth. It is stated that this 

 species sometimes breeds in Pennsylvania as early as 

 the last week in March. I have found nine nests in 

 Chester and Delaware counties during the past four 

 teen years; of this number seven wei-e taken late in 

 April or early in May, and all contained fresh eggs. 

 The two rciiiaiiiing nests, foiiiid in .Iiinc. eontaiued 

 9*--II 



