BIRDS OF PREY 181 



Many farmers claim that hog cholera and other animal 

 diseases are carried by these scavengers, so they are inclined 

 to kill them. In the North dead animals are now generally 

 burned or buried, so that these birds do not now range so 

 far north as formerly. 



The turkey vulture is not an uncommon summer resident 

 in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. It is found along the Illinois 

 River, in the vicinity of Starved Rock. According to the 

 latitude, one or usually two eggs are laid from ^March to 

 June. Small cavities or crevices in the rocks, hollow logs, 

 and hollows in trees are used as nesting sites. Practically 

 no nest is constructed. The eggs, deposited on the bare 

 rocks or leaves, are white or greenish-white, blotched and 

 splashed with shades of purple and red. 



THE AMERICAN VULTURES* 



Of the eight species of American Vultures, the Black 

 Vulture and the Turkey Buzzard are the best kno>vn. They 

 frequent both North and South America, the black species 

 ranging from North Carolina and the lower Ohio Valley 

 westward to the great plains and southward through ^lex- 

 ico and Central America into South America, where it is 

 found in nearly all parts. The range of the turkey buzzard 

 is more extensive, for it extends from New Jersey, the Ohio 

 Valley, the Saskatchewan region, and British Columbia 

 southward to Patagonia. It is only as scavengers that these 

 birds find their true place. *' They have the beauty of util- 

 ity, if no other, and their usefuhiess is recognized in all 

 \varm countries, where they are encouraged in their famil- 



