8 
CATHARTES AURA. 
an OX or cow in a body, consisting of an hundred an'' 
upwards.” * 
Buffon conjectures, that this murderous rmlture is the i 
turkey buzzard, and concludes his history of the lattC 
with the following invective against the whole fratef' 
nity : — “ In every part of the globe they are voracious, 
slothful, oflfensive, and hateful, and, like the wolves, ai'^ 
as noxious during their life, as useless after their death. 
If Kolben’s account of the ferocity of hi.s eagle,f of 
vulture, bo just, we do not hesitate to maintain that that 
vulture, is not the turkey buzz.ard, as, amongst the whok 
feathered creation, there is none, perhaps, more innoxious* 
than this species ; and that it is benelicial to the inhabi' 
taiits of our southern continent, even Buffon himselb 
on the authority of Desmarchais, asserts. But we donbt > 
the truth of Kolben’s story; and, in this place, must 
express our regret, that enlightened naturalists shouk 
so readily lend an ear to the romances of travellers, 
who, to excite astonishment, freely give currency tf 
every ridiculous tale, wliich the designing or the credU' 
Ions impose upon them. Wo will add farther, that tin’ 
turkey buzzard seldom begins upon a carcass, until 
invited to the banquet by that odoui', which in uo 
ordinary degree renders it an object of delight. 
The turkey vulture is two feet and a lialf in lengtb, 
and six feet two inches in breadth; the bill from tbr 
corner of the mouth is almost two inches and a ball 
long, of a dark horn colour for somewhat more than a>* 
inch from the tip, the nostril a remarkaldy wide slit, or 
opening through it ; the tongue is greatly concave, c»f' 
tilagiuous, and tiuely serrated on its edges ; ears inclii*' 
ing to oval ; eyes dark, in some specimens reddish hazel ; 
* Medley's Kolhen, vol. ii, p. 1.15. 
-)• These bloodthirsty eagles, we conjecture, are black vulture^ 
thev being in the habit of mining into the bellies of dead aniniidt, 
to feast nj,oii the contents. With respect to their attacking thet'’ 
that are living, as the vultures of America arc not so heroic, if r* 
a fair inference that the same specie-s elsewhere is possessed ef ® 
similar disposition. 
