Professor Langley ioined us March 4th in Port Antonio, 
Jamaica, where he had arranged to make a careful study of the 
flight of the turkey buzzard, or John Crow, hoping to learn 
thereby something of value to his experiments with the flying 
machine which he was constructing. 
Arriving at the local hotel I obtained measuring 
instruments and we began the study of the odoriferous bird. 
With the help of the natives specimens were easily caught by 
throwing out rats with looped cords, so that when they lit to 
pick up the rats, their feet were caught in the loops. 
Measurements were made with much detail as indicated 
in my sketches. A large specimen was then, with the cord attached 
to his one foot, allowed to rise from the ground with the view 
of observing the movements of his wings. Photographs were made 
to complete the record. In order to observe the movements of 
the bird in taking flight from an elevated perch we tied dead 
rats to strings again and threw them out of the second story 
window to the roof of a shed beneath. The buzzards soon picked 
up the rats and turning began their flight with little apparent 
effort. Photographs and sketches were made for record, profes- 
sor Landley made a report on his observations which was published 
in one of the subsequent reports of the Institution. 
When our work was completed we packed up our belongings 
and returned to Kingston, and after some delay took steamer for 
New York. 
