382 CATHARTES AURA, TURKEY BUZZARD. 



Comparing now the Carrion Crows, they are seen to be more thick-set, 

 with less sweep of wing and shorter and more rounded tail, beyond 

 which the feet may project; the front edge of the wing is almost straight, 

 and the back border sweeps around in a regular curve to meet it at an 

 obtuse point, where the ends of the quills are neither spread apart nor 

 bent upward. The birds show almost black instead of brown ; in place 

 of large gray area under the wing, there is a smaller paler-gray spot at 

 the point of the wing. And, finally, the Carrion Crows flap their wings 

 five or six times in rapid succession, then sail a few moments ; their 

 'flight appears heavy, and even laborious, beside the stately motion of 

 their relatives. 



Turkey Buzzards are resident in the lower, hotter portions of Arizona. 

 In the mountains I never saw them in winter. At Fort Whipple, for 

 instance, they arrived the latter part of March and remained until No- 

 vember. No better opportunity could be desired of studying their 

 habits than was afforded in this place, where they were very numerous. 

 We had a large herd of cattle, one or more of which were daily slaugh- 

 tered for the supply of the garrison ; and early in the fall it was deemed 

 advisable to "jerk" all the beef that remained on the hoof, since, in this 

 state, it was always liable to be stolen by Apaches, and winter fodder 

 was procurable only in limited quantity. The shambles were located in 

 a grove of cottonwood near the fort, and day after day the meat hung 

 .drying in thin strips festooned upon ropes stretched between the trees, 

 while bones and offal covered the ground at a little distance. These 

 were high times for the Buzzards, Eavens, wolves, and all the dogs of 

 the neighborhood; the place became a rendezvous for holding high car- 

 nival. The birds and beasts feasted alternately. At nightfall tbe 

 coyote-wolves and their larger relatives, the lobos, left their hiding 

 places, emboldened by hunger and shielded by darkness, and hastened 

 to the feast. There they fed, and fought, and caroused, yelping like 

 things possessed, till daylight surprised them and forced them to slink 

 away to their rocky fastnesses. Then the Buzzards and Eavens flapped 

 lazily down from their roosting places in the tall pines round about, and 

 took their turn. We destroyed a good many of the wolves, partly for 

 the sake of their pelage, which was in fine order at that season ; partly 

 in revenge for the disturbance their perpetual orgies occasioned. But, 

 of course, there was no sensible diminution of their numbers ; those 

 who lived to get away returned the next night to feed, and their ranks 

 were continually recruited. The Buzzards were seldom molested; this 

 and their continued surfeit made them as tame as they usually are in 

 southern cities. They certainly did us good service, though, perhaps, no 

 better than that rendered by the wolves themselves. Whether the birds 

 and wolves were on good terms or not I cannot say, for they always 

 feasted apart, at different hours; but there was evidently an under- 

 standing between the Buzzards and the dogs. They fed side by side, 

 and quarrelled no more than selfish, gluttonous Vultures generally do. 

 As for details of such banqueting as theirs, too much has already ap- 

 peared in print for the comfort of fastidious readers. 



Turkey Buzzards, like other American Vultures, are mute. Their 

 only voice is a kind of hiss, which has been likened to the seething noise 

 of hot iron plunged in water. Except when flying, the birds show to 

 little advantage. The color is dull; the form uncomely; the gait is con- 

 strained, and the attitudes are negligent and slothful. They walk or 

 hop indifferently, and sometimes move with a succession of leaps, accel- 

 erated with the wings. When about to take flight from the ground, 

 they stoop for an instant till the breast almost touches, and then, un- 



