THE TURKEY VULTURE. 419 



No. 188. 



TURKEY VULTURE. 



A. O. U. No. 325. Cathartes aura (L,inn.). 



Synonym. — Turkey Buzzard. 



Description. — Adult : Head and neck all around naked, livid crimson ; above 

 lustrous black with purple and violet reflections, varied by grayish brown edgings 

 of feathers ; plumage changing below to more uniform sooty brown, lustrous only 

 on breast ; wing-quills and rectrices light dusky below, with whitish shafts ; pri- 

 maries deeply emarginate, the tips considerably separated in flight, very flexible; 

 iris brownish gray ; bill dull white ; cere bright red. Young : Similar, but dusky 

 on head and neck, with downy grayish brown feathers ; bill blackish. Nestlings : 

 Covered with heavy white down, but head naked, — light bluish black. Length 

 27.00-32.00 (685.8-812.8) ; extent about six feet; wing 22.00 (558.8) ; tail 11.50 

 (292.1) ; bill including cere 2.20 (55.9). 



Recognition Marks. — Eagle size or less; naked red head; black plumage 

 nearly uniform ; soaring flight. 



Nest, in hollow trees, stumps or fallen logs, or in crannies of cliffs ; unlined. 

 Eggs, 2, rarely 3, elliptical-ovate, dull white, greenish or buffy white, spotted and 

 blotched irregularly with rich dark brown. Av. size, 2.80 x 1.95 (71. i x 49.5). 



General Range. — Temperate North America from New Jersey, Ohio Valley, 

 Saskatchewan region and British Columbia southward to Patagonia and the Falk- 

 land Islands. Casual in New England. 



Range in Ohio. — Fairly common summer resident; breeds throughout the 

 state. Casual resident in central and southern Ohio. 



NO summer day is quite complete unless it affords a sight of some half 

 dozen Turkey Buzzards lazily drifting across the middle distance, soaring, 

 shifting, wheeling, weaving endless circles, in restful monotony of midsummer 

 content. As a decorative feature, in a landscape the Vulture possesses un- 

 qualified value. To this virtue we hastily add recognition of his sanitary 

 services. But there our personal interest and approval is apt to come to a 

 sudden halt. For the rest a book acquaintance, set forth in language carefully 

 culled, will sufifice the ordinary man. 



But before we treat of the less pleasant things, let us note more carefully 

 that gracefully majestic flight. If caught upon the ground the bird pitches 

 forward, gives an awkward flap or two to clear his footing, rises sharply, 

 almost immediately catching the air in his ample wings, and begins to sail. 

 With motionless pinions he tilts and turns and sweeps about in stately curves, 

 or glides swiftly ofi at will in any direction. How does he do it ? It is easy 

 to see how a bird, moving with the wind and falling sharply, may wheel and 

 breast the wind more sharply still, using its acquired momentum to gain a 

 greater height than the one originally occupied. In this case the momentum 



