224 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



of the California Vulture are of a dull white with a green- 

 ish shade. From one cause or another, this latter bird is now 

 nearly extinct, and personally I have never enjoyed the oppor- 

 tunity of studying its habits in its native haunts. Among oolo- 

 gists its eggs are in great demand, and easily command f 100 

 apiece, and good skins of this species will doubtless fetch an 

 equal price. 



Best known, perhaps, of all the characteristics of these pecu- 

 liar birds is their habit of feeding upon carcasses, and as this 

 fact is universally known, man, in the countries where vultures 

 occur, regards them w r ith great favor as useful scavengers. 

 These habits have given rise to two very interesting problems in 

 regard to them; one is the explanation for the soaring flight of 

 vultures, and the exact manner of its accomplishment; and the 

 other is the solution of the problem as to how they detect the 

 presence of their food. Neither of these questions has been de- 

 cided to the satisfaction of all minds. There is a large literature 

 extant upon the first problem, and many interesting contribu- 

 tions to the second, which perhaps comes the nearer being under- 

 stood. So far as my personal observation goes, I am satisfied 

 that the carcass of a dead animal is made known to vultures 

 almost entirely through the sense of sight, and not through the 

 sense of smell. They are as far-sighted and as keen-eyed as 

 hawks, while my anatomical studies of their olfactory apparatus 

 revealed nothing indicative of unusual development. By this I 

 by no means intend to convey the idea that they are at all lack- 

 ing in the sense of smell, for if the air be tainted by the odor 

 from carrion, and the wind in the right direction, they can de- 

 tect the presence of the putrefying flesh for a very long distance, 

 as I have personally observed, and that, too, when the carcass is 

 completely concealed from view. 



Young turkey vultures are^ largely covered with white down, 

 which gives them a very remarkable appearance; added to this, 

 they stand in a peculiar attitude, with the wings partly spread, 

 and the head and neck curved forward, so as to place the former 

 almost between the legs in front. 



During the early part of the summer of 1897 a nestling of this 

 species (Cathartes aura) came alive into the hands of Mr. Will- 

 iam Palmer, chief taxidermist of the United States National Mu- 

 seum. This specimen he kindly loaned me, and I succeeded in 

 making a very good photograph of it. The reproduction of this 



