20 
THE TURKEY BUZZARD. 
morsel. By this mode of proceeding they soon clear away the softer substance, leaving only 
the bare ribs standing out, in the midst of which the Vulture continues to move about like a 
bird in a cage. 
Between the Turkey Buzzard and the zopilote there is a certain external resemblance ; but 
these two birds are quite distinct in their movements as well as in their habits. The Turkey 
Buzzard does not even walk or fly in the same manner as the zopilote. The latter bird, when 
walking, is very awkward, and hops along in an awkward and lazy manner, while the former 
moves smoothly forward, even when oppressed with a surfeit of food. In the flight the differ- 
ence is even more conspicuous : the Turkey Buzzard very seldom flaps its wings, but sails 
smoothly through the air, its wings being extended almost horizontally ; the zopilote, on the 
contrary, flaps its wings six or seven times in succession, and then sails on for a few hundred 
TURKEY BUZZARD.— Gathartes aura. 
yards with its wings raised at a decided angle with the body. The two species never company 
with each other, nor is the Turkey Buzzard found so familiarly associated with man and his 
habitation as its darker relation. 
The nest of the Turkey Buzzard is a very inartistical affair, consisting merely of some 
suitable hollow tree or decayed log, in which there may be a depression of sufficient depth to 
contain the eggs. In this simple cradle the female deposits from two to four eggs, which are 
of a dull cream-white, blotched with irregular chocolate splashes, which seem to congregate 
towards the largest end. The young birds are covered with a plentiful supply of white down, 
and look clean and inviting to the touch. Their motto may, however, be similar to that of the 
Scotch thistle, “Nemo me impune lacesserit,” for at the slightest aggressive touch they will 
disgorge over the offender the putrid animal substances with which they have been fed, and 
work sad woe to his hands and garments. May is usually the month in which the young 
Turkey Buzzards are hatched. 
The adult Turkey Buzzard is rather a large bird, measuring two feet six inches in length, 
and six feet ten inches across the expanded wings. The weight is about five pounds. The 
