12 
TURKEY VULTURE. 
to the purpose. The female is at no pains to form a nest -with materials ; 
but having chosen a suitable place, Avhich is either a truncated hollow 
tree, or an excavated stump or log, she lays on the rotten Avood from 
two to four eggs, of a dull dirty white, splashed all over with chocolate, 
mingled with blackish touches, the blotches largest and thickest towards 
the great end ; the form somewhat like the egg of a goose, but blunter 
at the small end ; length two inches and three quarters, breadth two 
inches. The male watches often while the female is sitting ; and if not 
disturbed they will occupy the same breeding place for several years. 
The young are clothed with a whitish down, similar to that which covers 
young goslings. If any person approach the nest, and attempt to han- 
dle them, they will immediately vomit such offensive matter, as to compel 
the intruder to a precipitate retreat. 
The Turkey-buzzards are gregarious, peaceable, and harmless ; never 
offering any violence to a living animal, or, like the plunderers of the 
Falco tribe, depriving the husbandman of his stock. Hence, though in 
consequence of their filthy habits they are not beloved, yet they are 
respected for their usefulness ; and in the southern states, where they 
are most needed, they, as well as the black vultures, are protected by a 
law, which imposes a fine on those who wilfully deprive them of life. In 
the middle and northern states, being unprotected by law, these useful 
birds are exposed to persecution, and, consequently, they avoid the 
residence of man. They generally roost in flocks, upon the limbs of 
large trees ; and they may be seen in a summer's morning, spreading 
out their wings to the rising sun, and remaining in that posture for a 
considerable time. Pennant conjectures that this is "to purify their 
bodies, which are most offensively fetid." But is it reasonable to sup- 
pose that that effluvia can be offensive to them, which arises from food 
perfectly adapted to their nature, and which is constantly the object of 
their desires ? Many birds, and particularly those of the granivorous 
kind, have a similar habit, which, doubtless, is attended with the same 
exhilarating effect, that an exposure to the pure air of the morning has 
on the frame of one just risen from repose. 
The Turkey-buzzards, unless when rising from the earth, seldom flap 
their wings, but SAveep along in ogees, and dipping and rising lines, and 
move with great rapidity. They are often seen in companies, soaring 
at an immense height, particularly before a thunderstorm. Their wings 
are not spread horizontally, but form an acute angle with the body, the 
tij^s having an upward curve. Their sense of smelling is astonishingly 
exquisite,* and they never fail to discover carrion, even when at the 
* The British public has lately been amused with the tales of a traveller, on some 
of the animals of our country. Among several particulars, which force themselves 
upon the attention of the American reader by their novelty, we are presented with 
