ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



+6' 



THE TURKEY VUL- 

 TURE OR BUZZARD. 



This bird is of un- 

 usual interest as be- 

 ing the only vulture 

 which occurs more or 

 less regularly in the 

 vicinity of New York 

 City. Many have 

 been observed on 

 Long Island, and in 

 New Jersey individ- 

 uals are found almost 

 every year as far 

 north as Plainfield 

 and Sandy Hook. In- 

 deed, the news has 

 justbeen received 

 that they are really 

 abundant every sum- 

 mer at the Delaware 

 Water Gap. At this 

 place there is a herd 

 of five or six hundred 

 deer on "Buckwood," 

 the estate of Mr. 

 Worthington, and the 

 vultures seem to find 

 an abundance of food 

 there, feeding either 

 on the occasional 



dead bodies of deer or on other animal matter. 

 As many as ten or a dozen may sometimes be 

 seen in a single flock. 



Westward, the Turkey Vulture ranges from 

 the Ohio Valley to the Saskatchewan region and 

 British Columbia. Southward, it extends as far 

 as Mexico. In that country it is replaced by a 

 smaller form which is given the value of a sub- 

 species, Cathartes aura aura. The Falkland 

 Island Turkey Vulture, C. falklandicus, living 

 in Chili and Patagonia, has the skin of the head 

 pink instead of red. The status of the Turkey 

 Vultures of other parts of South America is 

 still under discussion, but there are at least two 

 small forms in the north-eastern part of the con- 

 tinent, one with a yellow head and the other 

 with a pinkish one. 



But it is the typical Turkey Buzzard, Cath- 

 artes aura septentrionalis (JVied.), with which 

 we are concerned. It is among the most grace- 

 ful of all flying birds, and is a constant feature 

 in southern skies. 



The head and upper part of the neck are 

 bare, wrinkled and bright crimson in color. The 

 bill is white, and the plumage dark brown or 

 black, glossed with green above. In the im- 

 mature bird the head is covered with a soft 



Copyright, 1907, by H. T. Bohlman ami Win. L. Finley. 



"GENERAL" WHEN EIGHTY-TWO DAYS OF AGE 



down of grayish- 

 brown. The eggs and 

 nesting habits resem- 

 ble those of the black 

 vulture, although this 

 bird has been known 

 to breed in a deserted 

 hawk's nest higli up 

 in a tree. 



The Turkey Buz- 

 zard is about two and 

 a half feet in length, 

 and has a spread of 

 wing of about six 

 feet. Although these 

 measurements are 

 considerably greater 

 than those o f t h e 

 Black Vulture, yet 

 the latter is heavier in 

 the body. This ex- 

 plains why the Buz- 

 zard is the more 

 graceful flier, soaring 

 for hours without a 

 perceptible movement 

 of the wings, while 

 the Black Vulture 

 with its shorter wings 

 and tail must flap 

 frequently in order to 

 keep its headway and altitude. 



The Turkey Buzzards play their full part as 

 scavengers, although not so numerous in the 

 cities of the coast as their blacker brethren. 



The statement made in Part I of this article 

 that vultures apparently lack the sense of smell 

 was intended to apply only to the larger species. 

 I have carefully tested the power of scent in the 

 South American and Californian Condors, and 

 the King Vulture, and if present at all it is 

 very slight indeed. In the Black Vulture the 

 sense is appreciable, but even here it appears to 

 function but little, but it reaches a greater de- 

 gree of development in the Turkey Buzzard. 



One experiment will illustrate this. In the 

 large flying cage in the Zoological Park a num- 

 ber of Turkey and Black Vultures are "perma- 

 nent residents." Three boxes were placed on 

 the ground some distance apart, and the birds 

 fed for a few days in various parts of the cage. 

 Then after several days of fasting, a piece of 

 tainted meat was placed under the central box. 

 Care was taken to go through the farce of plac- 

 ing something under each box so that no visual 

 hints of the location of the meat was conveyed. 

 The vultures were very hungry, yet they did not 

 leave their perches and come to the ground, al- 



