666. ) TURKEY VULTURE, 
and, with that of the back and shoulders, black; the scapulars and 
secondaries are black on their outer webs, skirted with tawny brown, 
the latter slightly tipped with white; primaries and their coverts, plain 
brown, the former pointed, third’ primary the longest; coverts, of the 
secondaries, and lesser coverts, tawny brown, centred with black, 
some of the feathers at their extremities slightly edged with ‘yhite ; 
’ the tail is twelve inches long, rounded, of a brownish black, and com- 
posed of twelve feathers, which are broad at their extremities ; inside 
of wings and tail, light ash; the wings reach to the end of the tail; 
the whole body and neck beneath the plumage are thickly clothed 
with a white down, which feels like cotton; the shafts of the primaries 
are yellowish white above, and those of the tail, brown, both pure white” 
below ; the plumage of the neck, back, shoulders, scapulars, and sec- 
ondaries, is glossed with green and, bronze, and has purple reflec- 
tions; the thighs are feathered to the knees; feet, considerably 
webbed; middle toe, three inches and a half in length, and about an 
inch and a half tonger than the outer one, which is the next longest; 
the sole of the foot is hard and rough; claws, dark horn color; the 
legs are of a pale flesh color, and three inches long. The claws are 
larger, but:the feet slenderer than those of the Carrion Crow. The 
bill of the male is pure white; in some specimens the upper mandible 
is tipped with black. There is little or no perceptible difference 
between the sexes. ; 
The bird from which the foregoing description was taken, (Fig. 316,) 
was shot for this work, at Great Egg Harbor, on the 30th of January. 
It was a female, in perfect plumage, excessively fat, and weighed five 
pounds one ounce avoirdupois. On dissection, it emitted a slight 
musky odor.. 4 ‘ . 
The Vulture is included in the catalogue of those fowls declared 
unclean and an abomination by the Levitical law, and which the Is- 
raelites were interdicted eating.* We presume that this prohibition 
was religiously observed, so far, at least, as it related to the Vulture, : 
from whose flesh there arises such an unsavory odor, that we question 
if all the sweetening processes ever invented could render it palatable 
to Jew, Pagan, or Christian. : 
Since the above has been ready for the press, we have seen the His- 
tory of the Expedition under the command of Lewis and Clark, and 
find our conjecture with respect to the migration of the Turkey Buz- 
zard verified, several of this species having been observed at Brant 
Island, near the Falls of the Columbia.} 
* Leviticus, xi. 14. — Deuteronomy, xiv. 13. 
+ History of the Expeditic, vol. i. p. 233. 
