TURKEY VULTURE, 
263 
the form something 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 seve- 
ral 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 handle them, they will immediately vomit 
such offensive matter as to compel the intruder to a precipitate 
retreat. 
The Turkey-buzzards are gregarious, peaceable and harm- 
less; 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, on 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 reason- 
able to suppose 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 particu- 
larly 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, sel- 
dom flap their wings, but sweep along in ogees, and dipping and 
