Turkey Buzzard 205 



decomposition." The following account of their feeding habits is also from 

 the pen of Dr. Ralph: "When they find a dead animal they will not leave it 

 until all but the bones and other hard parts has been consumed, and if it be 

 a large one, or if it have a tough skin, they will often remain near it for days, 

 resting by night in the trees near by. After they have eaten and sometimes 

 they will gorge themselves until the food will run out of their mouths when they 

 move they will, if they are not too full to fly, roost in the nearest trees until 

 their meal is partly digested, and then commence eating again." 



There is a widespread popular belief that these birds, as well as the other 

 members of the group, possess a wonderfully acute sense of smell which enables 

 them to detect the presence of carrion at a great distance, and many are the tales 

 that have been told and which in a measure seem to prove the truth of this 

 supposed power; but, on the other hand, the opposing facts are so strong as to 

 make it difficult to decide between them. As might be expected from dissections 

 of the olfactory organs as made by Owen and others, their sense of smell is 

 probably more highly developed than in most birds, but it is doubtful if it is 

 more acute than in most human beings. Numerous experiments have been 

 tried, not only with this species but with other of the Vultures, of concealing 

 carrion near where they were congregated, and in no case did they find it. It 

 would be interesting to give an account of many of these experiments, but we have 

 only space for the following, taken from Barrows: "The rough painting of a 

 sheep, skinned and cut open, soon brought Vultures to examine and tug at it, 

 and although the experiment was repeated scores of times it never failed, on each 

 fresh exposure, to attract the hungry birds. A wheelbarrow load of tempting 

 carrion was next covered by a single sheet of thin canvas, above which bits of 

 fresh meat were strewn. The fresh meat was soon eaten, but although the 

 Vultures must frequently have had their bills within an eighth of an inch of the 

 carrion beneath, they did not discover it." On the other hand, Mr. Ridgway 

 is strongly of the opinion that they can and do detect the presence of carrion by 

 the sense of smell. He says, "I have repeatedly seen them attracted to a dead 

 animal so thoroughly concealed from view that they could not possibly see it 

 even from immediately overhead, much less from a distance." He also relates 

 an instance where he observed dozens of Turkey Buzzards coming "up the 

 wind " to a field which had been newly fertilized with fish guano, undoubtedly 

 attracted only by the odor. Their acuteness of vision is, however, beyond 

 question, and it is upon this that they undoubtedly largely depend in securing 

 their food. They have been known to descend from a height at which they 

 were almost invisible to human sight to feed upon a dead snake a few inches 

 long, that must have been discovered from this lofty position. 



The Turkey Vulture deposits its eggs, usually two in number, in a hollow log 

 or tree, among rocks or frequently on the ground. The eggs are thought by 

 many to be the handsomest of those of any of the raptorial birds. Their ground 

 color is generally a light creamy tint, occasionally a dull white, and they are 

 blotched, smeared, and spotted with various shades of reddish brown, chocolate, 

 and lavender, these markings usually predominating over the larger end. 



