53 



mate soon after their arrival from the South and nesting be- 

 gins about the first of April. 



They make no attempt at making a nest, but lay their 

 eggs in the hollow of a tree, stump or log, or on a rock ledge 

 or on the ground. The vulture from which the illustration ac- 

 companying this chapter was taken was obtained between the 

 Brazos River and Matagorda Bay. It was found nesting on 

 the ground in an open space beneath a heavy growth of 

 bushes. The old bird, when approached, did not attempt to 

 leave the nest, and to protect her young from harm promptly 

 disgorged the putrid contents of her stomach upon her captor, 

 and they were so offensive that he had to close his nostrils 

 with one hand while he reached for the young bird with the 

 other. This is their only means of defense. From one to three 

 dull white eggs constitute a clutch. They are irregularly 

 blotched, smeared and spotted with various shades of brown. 

 Both birds take part in the incubation, each feeding the other 

 and the young with the disgorged contents of the stomach. 

 Incubation lasts about thirty days, and only one brood is 

 reared in a season. The nest becomes extremely filthy and 

 fetid. A pair of them nested in a stump near the summer home 

 of my deceased friend, Dr. Daniel Thompson, who told me 

 that the stench from the nest could be detected for several 

 yards away from the stump. 



The young hiss like a goose when disturbed. Dr. Henry 

 Moore tells me that while he and a friend were exploring a 

 small stream which runs through a gorge at the Shades of 

 Death in Montgomery county, Indiana, they came to a place 

 where there was a fall of about five feet. He jumped down to 

 a rock ledge, but his friend hesitated. Upon alighting he 

 heard a hissing noise and thought it came from a snake. Fear- 

 ing to move, he sent his companion around the hill so that he 

 might, if possible, discover what it was that was hissing. His 

 companion readily discovered the cause and said to the doc- 

 tor, "Look behind you under the ledge." He did, and saw two 

 young vultures there which were about half grown. He tells me 

 that great numbers of these birds nest in that locality upon 

 rock ledges and that they have a rookery there. Having never 

 heard a vulture make a noise or call of any kind, I asked if he 



