14 Bird -Lore 



the belief that, in thus spreading himself, the Vulture is impelled by all the 

 motives that actuate the good housewife when she exposes the garments of 

 the family to the purifying rays of the sun. 



It is not alone in the day that our premises are a resort for Turkey Vul- 

 tures, but we also have them with us during the long winter nights, when they 

 roost in the immense live oak all draped and bedecked in Spanish moss in the 

 front yard. Here they congregate a while before dark and, after more or less 

 shifting of position from one limb to another, settle down for the night — that 

 is, as I should say, for such nights as we neglect to drive them away; and 

 drive them away we must, for several good and sufficient reasons. 



Their services in Tallahassee are valuable. They manage to clear away 

 much minor offal and garbage that otherwise would escape prompt and sanitary 

 destruction. They enjoy immunity from harm, not because of the law of the 

 state which prescribes a fine for killing or maiming them, but because of the 

 tradition that it is wrong to injure a Buzzard. From time immemorial, people 

 of the South seem to have instinctively realized what a valuable friend the bird 

 is alive, and what a useless thing it is dead. Would that the same good sense 

 might prevail in behalf of many other birds of our country. 



The Turkey Vulture in New Jersey 



By JOHN DRYDEN KUSER, Bernardsville. N. J. 



During the summer of 1908, Turkey Vultures were frequently seen at 

 Bernardsville, N. J. In 1909, they were a common summer resident. One bird 

 was seen April 10, 1910, but very few were seen, following that date, until 

 well into June, and even then they were decidedly scarcer than in the previous 

 year. But in late July and early August they were more common. The latest 

 record for that year was November 19. Once during the summer of 1910 a 

 flock of twenty-one birds was seen. 



The year 191 1 brought an early record, for, on March 20, one bird was 

 seen; but, as in the year before, hardly any were noted in Ma}^ In June, they 

 were somewhat more common than during the same month in 19 10. There 

 is a breeding-record of one not very far from Bernardsville. (See Mr. C. Wil- 

 liam Beebe, N. Y. Zoological Bulletin.) 



In 1909, over sixty Vultures were counted on a dead tree near AUamuchy, 

 N. J. At Bordentown (six miles south-east of Trenton, N. J.), Vultures 

 remained during the winter of 1908-9. 



At High Point, N, J., which is six miles from Sussex, N. J., and four and 

 one-half miles from Port Jervis, N. Y., at an altitude of 1,809 feet, two Buz- 

 zards were often seen in July and August, 191 1. The place where they roosted 

 was discovered. It was a dead pine tree, on the south-east side of a mountain. 

 On October 10, six birds were seen, and on November 2, 191 1, one bird was 

 seen sailing over High Point, just before a snowstorm. 



