44 
BIRDS OF PREY. 
often like grim and boding spectres in the suburbs, and 
on the roofs and chimneys of the houses, around the 
cities of the Southern states. A few brave the winters 
of Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey ; but the 
greater part migrate south at the approach of cold 
weather. 
The Turkey-Buzzard has not been known to breed 
north of New Jersey in any of the Atlantic states. Here 
they seek out the swampy solitudes, and, without forming 
any nest, deposit from 2 to 4 eggs in the stump of a 
hollow tree or log, on the mere fragments of rotten wood 
with which it is ordinarily strewed. Occasionally, in 
the Southern states, they have been known to make 
choice of the ruined chimney of a deserted house for 
this purpose. The eggs are larger than those of a Tur- 
key, of a yellowish white, irregularly blotched with dark 
brown and blackish spots, chiefly at the larger end. 
The male often attends while the female is sitting ; and, 
if not materially disturbed, they will continue to occupy 
the same place for several years in succession. 
The young are covered with a whitish down, and, in 
common with the habit of the old birds, will often eject, 
upon those who happen to molest them, the filthy con- 
tents of their stomachs. 
In the cities of the south they appear to be somewhat 
gregarious ; and, as if aware of the protection afforded 
them, present themselves often in the streets, and partic- 
ularly near the shambles. They also watch the empty- 
ing of the scavengers’ carts in the suburbs, where, in com- 
pany with the still more domestic Black Vultures, they 
search out their favorite morsels amidst dust, filth, and 
rubbish of all descriptions. Bits of cheese, of meat, 
fish, or any thing sufficiently foetid, and easy of digestion, 
is greedily sought after, and eagerly eyed. When the 
