28 
BLACK VULTURE. 
than the rest; the legs are of a dirty limy white, three inches 
and a half in length, and, with the feet, are thick and strong; the 
middle toe, including the claw, is four inches long, side toes 
two inches, and connected to the middle as far as the first joint; 
inner toe rather the shortest; hind toe pointing inward; claws 
strong, but not sharp like those of the Falco genus, middle claw 
three quarters of an inch long; the stomach is not lined with 
hair as reported. When opened, this bird smells strongly of 
musk, so much so as to be quite offensive. Sexes nearly alike. 
Mr. Abbot informs me that the Carrion-crow builds its nest 
in the large trees of the low wet swamps, to which places they 
retire every evening to roost. “They frequent,” says he, 
“that part of the town of Savannah where the hog-butchers 
reside, and walk about the streets, in great numbers, like do- 
mestic fowls. It is diverting to see, when the entrails and offals 
of the hogs are thrown to them, with what greediness they 
scramble for the food, seizing upon it, and pulling one against 
another until the strongest prevails. The Turkey-buzzard is 
accused of killing young lambs and pigs, by picking out their 
eyes, but I believe that the Carrion-crow is not guilty of the 
like practices.” When taken alive, this bird bites excessively 
hard, and its bill, which is very sharp on its edges, is capable 
of inflicting severe wounds, as I myself experienced. 
It is really astonishing that the European naturalists should 
so long have overlooked the difference which there is between 
this species and the Turkey-buzzard, in their external conform- 
ation. Their heads are differently shaped; their bills and nos- 
trils are considerably unlike; and the arrangement of the neck 
plumage is entirely dissimilar, as our figures will show. The 
Turkey-buzzard’s neck, along the oesophagus, as far as the breast 
bone, is bare of feathers, though this nakedness is concealed by 
the adjacent plumage; the same part in the Carrion-crow is 
completely clothed. The down of both species has the same 
cottony appearance. 
