52 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



being like a hook, and well fitted for tearing into shreds the 

 fresh flesh upon which they live, so that it can easily be de- 

 voured. They also have strong grasping feet with which they 

 can catch and hold their food while it is being torn into shreds. 

 The beak of the vulture is more elongated and not so strong. 

 Their feet are adapted to walking rather than grasping, since 

 they do not catch and hold their food while they devour it. 

 This vulture gets its distinguishing name turkey, from its 

 fancied resemblance to the wild turkey. 



The beak of the turkey vulture is about two and a half 

 inches long, and is of a white color; nostrils wide with open- 

 ing through the beak; eyes dark in some specimens and in 

 others reddish-hazel ; head and neck bare, red and carruncu- 

 lated almost to the breast bone ; the naked skin of the lower 

 neck is not discernable without removing the plumage which 

 arches over it; the plumage of the upper part of the body is a 

 lustrous black, more or less tinged with brown ; the lower 

 parts, lining of the wings, rump and tail coverts, sooty brown 

 with the feathers of the belly and vent hairy; the wings are 

 long and pointed with the ends of the primaries reaching to the 

 end of the tail ; the tail is rounded and brownish like the 

 wings ; tarsus without feathers, covered with fine scales and 

 whitish ; the feet are well adapted to walking and steadying 

 the bird on a large carcass ; the toes are united next to the feet 

 by a small membrane, the hind one projects from the foot 

 higher than the others, the middle one is very long and all of 

 them are tipped with short claws. In appearance the sexes 

 are alike. The young are covered with down of a greenish- 

 white color. 



The range of the turkey vulture extends north from the 

 Falkland Islands and Patagonia to Saskatchewan and British 

 Columbia and includes the greater portion of the United 

 States. It is very common throughout the south, gradually 

 becoming rarer as it advances northward. East of the Rocky 

 Mountains it is a resident throughout the year from about 

 latitude 46 degrees, and they breed as far north as latitude 56 

 degrees. In the Middle West they generally begin to appear 

 in February or early in March. A pair of them have been seen 

 at Buzzard's Roost as early as the first week in January. They 



