Plate XXXIX. 
Fig. 3. GATH ARIES AURA— Turkey Buzzard. 
The Turkey Buzzard is common in the summer throughout the state, and even in winter some are 
usually to he seen in the central and southern portions on days, which, considering the season, might 
be called warm. The majority, however, go south upon the approach of the first real cold weather, and 
return as early in the spring as the temperature will permit. The place for the nest is selected the 
latter part of March, and in a week or two from this time the eggs are deposited. 
LOCALITY: 
The nest is in a tree or upon the ground beside a tree, stump, or log, not many miles from the place 
where the pair usually roosts. Most frequently it is in a cavernous sycamore stump, or the hollow in a 
log or limb, in woods which border a creek or river. Sometimes it is in most unexpected places in dense 
upland woods, either upon the ground, in a stump, log, or tree. 
'J h 
POSITION: 
When the nest is above ground it is usually between live and fifteen feet to the cavity, and some- 
times seventy or eighty feet. In perpendicular trunks the eggs are from three to six or eight feet below 
the entrance, and in horizontal limbs they are, at times, five to ten feet from the doorway. • 
MATERIALS : 
No materials for the nest are carried into the cavity, but the decayed wood, which is usually 
abundant in the place selected, is loosened and scratched about until a suitable floor is formed to hold 
the eggs. Nests upon the ground are made among dead leaves and grass, and sometimes small sticks, 
bark, and moss. No materials are gathered by the bird, and often the natural arrangement of the grass 
and leaves is not disturbed. It has been stated, by several writers, that bulky nests of sticks and leaves 
are built upon the ground. In the Southwestern States this may be the rule, but in Ohio no materials 
for the nest are ever carried by the Turkey Buzzard. 
EGGS: 
Two eggs are the most I have seen in one nest, and sometimes only one is laid. The ground-color 
is creamy or greenish-gray; the shell is dull and marked with blotches, spots, and speckles of various 
shades of chocolate-brown, distributed over the whole egg, but most abundant at the base. They are not 
often much confluent. Deep shell-marks are purplish. There is but little variation in the markings. In 
long-diameter they measure from 2.56 to 3.03; in short-diameter, from 1.80 to 2.00. The largest speci- 
men before me measures 3.01 x 1.80; the smallest, 2.58 x 1.90. The usual size is about 2.71 x 1.82. 
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