160 



BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



Genus Cathartes (Illig.) 

 142. Cathartes aura septentrionalis (Wied.). TURKEY VULTURE. 



Description. Black above and below, the feathers of the upperparts so broadly edged with 

 brown that the bird is more brown than black above. Skin of head and neck red in adult, dusky 

 in young. L., about 30.00; W., 22.00; T., 12.50. 



Range. Temperate and Tropical North America. 



Range in North Carolina. Whole State at all seasons. 



FIG. 120. TURKEY VULTURE. 



The Turkey Vulture, better known as the " Turkey Buzzard," is one of our best 

 known birds, and has been considered a friend of man on account of its work as a 

 scavenger and devourer of dead and unburied carcasses. However, veterinarians 

 assert that it carries the germs of hog-cholera from one hog-pen to another, and 

 thus aids in the spread of that disease. 



Unlike the Black Vulture, the Buzzard seems to show no particular preference 

 for large carrion. Sailing low over the ground, it will stop as readily for a dead 

 snake or rabbit as for the remains of a cow. It can be distinguished from the Black 

 Vulture when flying by the fact that the wings are usually bent at the carpal joint 



