74 BIRDS OF PREY 



THE VULTURE FAMILY 



Cathartidae 



This Family ranks at the bottom of the list of the birds of 

 prey, because its members are less intelligent, less active and 

 resourceful in obtaining their food, and less able to take care 

 of themselves than the hawks and owls. Although not so 

 highly developed as the hawks, the vultures serve a most 

 useful purpose in the economy of Nature, and exhibit some 

 traits that are really wonderful. The broad-minded student 

 will not turn from these birds with aversion merely because 

 their heads are bare, and they feed on dead food. Their 

 heads are naked for professional reasons. 



Two things about vultures are particularly striking. One 

 is the enormous heights to which they soar; the other is their 

 marvellous quickness in discovering the body of a dead animal. 

 Many times, in clear summer weather, I have seen the COM- 

 MON TURKEY VULTURE 1 sailing and circling on wide-spread 

 but motionless pinions, so high in the heavens that its distance 

 from the earth seemed to be two miles or more. 



Clearly these aerial promenades, often continued until the 

 observer is weary of watching them, are taken for pleasure. 

 One great circle succeeds another in a series that seems un- 

 ending, but all the while the wings are as motionless as if 

 wired in position. On such occasions, even a homely and 

 unlovely "Buzzard" can become an object of admiration, and 

 a reminder of William Tell's Alpine eagle, which for senti- 

 mental reasons only he "could not shoot." 



1 Ca-thar'tes au'ra. Average length, about 29 inches. 



