SOME OHIO BIRDS 
57 
VULTURES 
The Vultures belong- to the Raptors, but their food habits differ 
greatly from others of the group. These birds are scavengers, 
gorging on offal and carrion, while they seldom prey on living ani¬ 
mals. They do not take putrid flesh from choice, but because it is 
more easily torn by their bills, which are not so strong as in other 
rapacious birds; also the feet are less formidable than in other mem* 
bers of the group. 
TURKEY VULTURE, Cathartes aura septe?itrionalis Wied. 
The Turkey Vulture, commonly called Turkey Buzzard, is a 
common resident in southern Ohio, and locally throughout the nor¬ 
thern part in summer. While in the air, the bird is extremely grace¬ 
ful, the flight being accomplished with no apparent exertion or per¬ 
ceptible motion of the wings. When not gorging or gorged, much of 
its time is spent on the wing. If one would retain the impression 
received from the majestic flight, too close inspection when in a 
state of repose, is not to be desired; when on the ground, it is 
awkward and ungainly; its head and neck are destitute of feathers. 
This bird renders an important service to man in disposing of decay¬ 
ing flesh that would otherwise pollute the air and breed sickness. 
Where Vultures are abundant, dead animals are not buried, but are 
dragged to an out of the way place and left to the disposal of these 
birds. These unclean feeding habits have led some observers to 
suspect that these vultures are often responsible for the transmis¬ 
sion of the germs of hog cholera and similar diseases from one 
locality to another. This suspicion seems to rest wholly upon a 
guess, which may or may not prove to be true. Investigation of this 
question ought to be made in regions where the birds are abund¬ 
ant. Without more knowledge than is possessed at present, the laws 
of those southern states which prohibit the slaughter of the Turkey 
Vulture seem to have been wisely enacted. 
MOURNING DOVE, Zenaidura macroura carolinensis (Linn.) 
One of the most familiar of our birds is the Mourning Dove, so 
named from its mournful call. It is a ground feeder and, except 
during the nesting season, is found in small flocks in open country, 
in Stubblefields, pastures and open woodland. It is frequently met 
with on highways, feeding on the undigested grain which it finds in 
the horse droppings, or taking a dust bath. It is commonly found 
nesting in orchards or shade trees, or among ornamental shrubbery 
of the home grounds, sometimes venturing even into towns. This 
species, unlike its now probably extinct congener, the Passenger 
Pigeon, never nests in colonies, and for this reason has been spared 
