286 VULTURES 



XH. ORDER RAPTORES. BIRDS OF PREY 



1893. FISHER, A. K, The Hawks and Owls of the United States in 

 Their Relation to Agriculture, Bull. No. 3, Div. Orn. and Mam. (Biol. Surv.), 

 Washington. 8vo. pp. 210, col. plls. 26. 



34. FAMILY CATHARTID^. AMERICAN VULTURES. (Fig. 49.) 



A New World family of nine species, of which three are North 

 American. Within their range Vultures are found wherever there is 

 food. Far above the earth on firm wing they sail in broad circles, and 

 from this outlook in the sky descend to feast upon the stricken deer 

 in the forest or the cur lying in the gutters of a thoroughfare. It is 

 now the generally accepted belief that Vultures find their food by the 

 aid of their eyes alone. Except during the nesting season, they are 

 generally found in flocks, which each night return to a regularly fre- 

 quented roost. When alarmed or excited, they utter low, grunting 

 sounds, but at other times are silent. They build no nest, but lay their 

 one to three eggs under logs or stumps, on the ground, in caves, or 

 similar places. The young are born naked, but are soon thickly covered 

 with white or buff down. 



325. Cathartes aura septentrionalis Wied. TURKEY VULTURE. 

 (Fig. 49.) Ads. Head and neck naked, the skin and base of the bill bright 

 red; plumage glossy black, edged with grayish brown. Ira. Similar, but 

 the head covered with grayish-brown, furlike feathers. L., about 30'00; W., 

 22-00; T., ll'OO; B., 2'30. 



Range. Austral and Transition zones from s. B. C., Sask., w. Man., n. 

 Minn., sw. Ont., w. and s. N. Y., and n. N. J. s. to s. L. Calif, and n. Mex.; 

 winters throughout most of its regular range on the Atlantic slope but w. 

 retires to Calif., Nebr., and the Ohio Valley; casual n. to Wise., Mich., n. 

 Ont., and N. B. 



Washington, abundant P. R. Ossining, A. V. Cambridge, casual, two 

 records. N. Ohio, tolerably common, S. R., Mch. 5-Oct. 30. SE. Minn., 

 common S. R., Apl. 27. 



Nest, in hollow stumps or logs, or on the ground beneath rocks, bushes or 

 palmettos. Eggs, 1-3, dull white, generally spotted and blotched with 

 distinct and obscure chocolate markings, but sometimes plain or but slightly 

 spotted, 2-80 x 2'00. Date, Florida Keys, Mch. 1 ; Buckingham Co., Va. Apl. 

 3; Deer Creek, Md., Apl. 16; se. Minn., May 2, July. 



One of the first birds to attract the attention of the bird student 

 in our Southern States is the Turkey "Buzzard." Indeed, there are 

 few moments between sunrise and sunset when these birds are not 

 in sight. On outstretched, immovable wings they soar overhead in 

 graceful circles, perfect pictures of "repose in motion." Without 

 once flapping their broad pinions, they sail in spirals up the sky until 

 they are hidden by the storm-clouds they have purposely avoided. 

 Again, one sees them winging their way low over fields or through the 

 streets of a town in search of food which they find chiefly, perhaps wholly, 

 by means of sight. At times they may be seen high in the air hurry- 

 ing to a distant repast, to which they are guided by the food-flight 

 of other Buzzards. 



