SCAVENGERS 125 



their scavenger work, that they are so valuable to 

 mankind. 



Among the best known of these useful creatures 

 is the turkey buzzard. He is the commonest known 

 species of North America, and is found from the 

 Atlantic to the Pacific coasts, and from Saskatche- 

 wan throughout North and South America to the 

 Straits of Magellan. The turkey buzzard is very 

 abimdant west of the Alleghenies — ^his habitat ex- 

 tending from Central America almost to the Arc- 

 tic regions ; and he is also frequently seen in Cuba, 

 Jamaica, Trinidad, Honduras, and Guatemala, as 

 well as the Falkland Islands. 



In the southern part of the United States buz- 

 zards are not only plentiful in the woods and on 

 the prairies, but they come into the towns and do 

 the scavenger work in company with the black vul- 

 tures. In Kingston, Jamaica, they have become so 

 tame that they roost upon the housetops, and are 

 almost as common as sparrows in the streets. They 

 are always to be found in large nimibers about 

 ranches in the West, where they will settle down 

 upon a dead cow or sheep around which wild dogs 

 and crows have gathered. Although the dogs snap 

 and growl, the buzzards do not seem to mind, but 

 only step aside to later continue their feast. 



These scavengers are famed for their keen sense 



