THE TURKEY BUZZARD. 19 



by thrusting- a red-hot poker into water ; and frequently a snuffing, like a dog clearing his 

 nostrils, as I suppose they were theirs. On observing that they did not heed me, I stole so 

 close that my feet were within one yard of the horse's legs, and again sat down. They all slid 

 aloof a few feet ; but seeing me quiet, they soon returned as before. As they were often dis- 

 turbed by the dogs, I ordered the latter home ; my voice gave no alarm to the Vultures. 



"As soon as the dogs departed, the Vultures crowded in such numbers that I counted at 

 one time thirty-seven on and around the carcass, with several within ; so that scarcely an inch 

 of it was visible. Sometimes one would come out with a large piece of the intestines, which 

 in a moment was surrounded by several others, who tore it to fragments, and it soon dis- 

 appeared. They kept up the hissing occasionally. Some of them, having their legs and 

 heads covered with blood, presented a most savage aspect. Still as the dogs advanced, I would 

 order them away, which seemed to gratify the Vultures ; and one would pursue another to 

 within a foot or two of the spot where I was sitting. Sometimes I observed them stretching 

 their necks along the ground, as if to press the food downwards." 



The Zopilote is rather a familiar bird, and may often be seen marching about the streets 

 in the towns and villages of the Southern States, where it might be easily mistaken for a 

 domestic turkey by a new arriver in the country. By the inhabitants it is popularly called 

 the carrion crow, a confusion of nomenclature which has sometimes led to strange misappre- 

 hension of corvine habits. As the birds, although personally disliked, are so useful to the 

 community, they are protected by common consent, and permitted to roam the streets or prowl 

 among the houses at will. 



The Carrion Crow (Catharista atrata), so called, as well as Black Vulture, is a coal black 

 bird of about the size of the Turkey Buzzard. Only one species of this genus is known, and 

 this is confined to the tropical portions of North America. It is found most commonly on the 

 Atlantic sea-board. < >n the Pacific side it is not known. In the West India Islands this bird 

 is quite common, having the same habits as the Turkey Buzzard. 



In Charleston, S. C, and Savannah, the Carrion Crow is very common, associated with 

 the Turkey Buzzard. Both are well known for their beneficial habits as scavengers. 



Another species, of the genus Cathartes, is the Turkey Buzzard, more rightly termed 

 the Carrion Vulture. Its name of Turkey Buzzard is earned from the strange resemblance 

 which a Carrion Vulture bears to a turkey, as it walks slowly and with a dignified air, stretch- 

 ing its long bare neck, and exhibiting the fleshy appendages which bear some likeness to the 

 wattles of the turkey. Indeed, instances are not wanting, where recent visitors to the country 

 have actually shot these birds, thinking that they had succeeded in killing a veritable edible 

 turkey. This bird is chiefly found in North America, but is also an inhabitant of Jamaica, 

 where it is popularly known as the John crow. 



According to Waterton and Darwin, the Turkey Buzzard is not so sociable a bird as the 

 zopilote ; for although a little flock of twenty or thirty may be seen together in a corn-field 

 where the refuse stubble has been burned, engaged in feeding on the dead mice, lizards, moles, 

 and other creatures which have perished in the conflagration, each bird comes separately and 

 departs separately, no two individuals having any connection with each other. 



When gorged with food, an event which always takes place whenever there is the least 

 opportunity, the Turkey Buzzard leaves reluctantly the scene of the banquet, and gaining with 

 some difficulty a branch of a neighboring tree, sits heavy and listless, its head sunk upon its 

 breast, and its wings hanging half open, as if the bird were too lazy even to keep those mem- 

 bers closed. The object of this curious attitude seems to be, that the bird may gain as much 

 air as possible, for these feathered creatures are singularly susceptible to atmospheric influence. 

 It is not improbable that this air-bath may aid the bird in digesting the food which it has so 

 ravenously consumed, as well as to cleanse its feathers from the fetid animal substance which 

 cannot but cling to them after their strong-scented repasts. While engaged in eating they are 

 not at all particular about soiling their feathers, for they will often tear a hole in the skin of a 

 dead animal, and deliberately walk into its interior, for the purpose of getting at some favorite 



