[2.] 1. Cathartes Aura. (Illiger.) Turkey-Vulture.
Ge x f s . Cathartes. Iu iec s.
Turkey-Vulture, or Turkey-Burzartl. ( Vultur aura.) W il s o n , is., p. 96, pi. 76, f. 1.
Cathartes Aura. I l l ig e r . Prod., p 236. B o n a p . •S'yn., p. 22. ' *
Wannah-keeoo (Bald-head). Cr e e I n d ia n s .
Wilson informs us. that in the northern and middle sections of the United
States, the Turkey-Vultures are partially migratory, the greater part retiring south
on the approach of cold weather; but that considerable numbers remain all winter
as far north as New Jersey. They breed, he says, in the month of May, among
the secluded swamps of that State; the female laying two or four eggs of a
soiled-white colour, splashed all over with chocolate mingled with blackish
touches, particularly towards the great end. The place selected for the nestis,
generally the decayed stump of a tree; the male watches while the female sits ;
and, if not disturbed, they will occupy the same breeding-place for several years.
The young are clothed with a whitish down, and have the habit, when handled,
of vomiting the offensive contents of their stomachs upon their incautious disturber.
The Turkey-Vulture is said to be an occasional visitant of Nova Scotia,,
and Lewis and Clark observed it on the banks of the Columbia *. In the interior
of the continent, however, its summer migrations reach a considerably higher
latitude than they do either on the Atlantic or Pacific coasts, owing, probably,
to the greater warmth of the summer in the inland districts more speedily pro-
dncing the necessary putrefaction in the animal substances on which it feeds.
Following the direction of the Prairie Lands lying on the eastern side of
the Rocky Mountains, it. reaches the banks of the Saskatchewan, in the fifty-
third parallel of latitude, late in the month of June, after the arrival of most of
* T og t* art extr&tt 6 ( a fetter from Mr. Tfxv'iA ;—
** Vwt&vr Au.ra. (ft Common TnrK^y-fiuxzarri. }* an axcMidinffly rare bird on the North-went count of America.
Tit« few J saw WKrn 6ft tbo lew phim of the Multnomah, in the autumn and winter of 1820. Apparently it dls-
peara ac att other neawwtst j ami, eonaeojnently, can be regarded as merely a bird of passage In that country. Lewis
*rui Clark more than once mention this bird in their oar rati re f but, great a* their authority ought to ho respecting
this common bird of the f.'oited State*, f am induced to think that they mistook the Vultu/r Atm tun for It, as the latter
ie one of the most common birds west of the mountains, On the low marshy islands of the Columbia, a solitary Vultur
Attret is sometimes seen shunning and shunned fey all nthers of his kindred, The Black Vulture, though a smaller bird, is holder, masters the Turkey-ViwmctA, and drives him away from the carrion. These two birds are assuredly distinct
speeies, not varieties, as some have snpposed, fn f/pper Canada, near Sandwich and Lake St. Clair, In 1828,1 saw vast numbers of the V. Attffy and had every opportunity of watching their habits, to say nothing of the evident differences
in their siee and colour, and their dissimilar modes of nesting."—/). /).
the other summer birds. In the southern districts, where the T urkey V ultures
are permanent residents, they are gregarious, roost m flunks, and are often seen
in companies, soaring to an immense height; fat on the banks of the Saskatchewan
seldom more than one pair are seen at a time: and they were described to
me as being in the habit of sailing along with great rapidity, in undulated fines,
under the high banks of the river. I quitted that part of the country loo early in
the season to have an opportunity of seeing them; bat the spet5.es has been
identified by a specimen from thence preserved in the Museum of the Hudson’s
Bay Company.
The food of the Turkey Vulture is carrion, which it .discovers from a great distance
; and, when it has an opportunity, it wiH gorge ifcsriff to such a degree, as
to be incapable of rising. It seldom or never .attacks Jiving animats. and as highly
beneficial to the districts it frequents, by removing putrid substances.
D G seum O V Of täte Specimen in zb e Hudson’« Bet Museum.
Colour, brownish-black, deepest on the neck, breast, bely, and! between the scapularies.
There are some purplish reflexions on tbe dorsal aspect, wifh a considerable 'degree vöf metallic
lustre. The scapularies, secondaries, and greater and lesser wing-cOTrerfis, Home paler margins.
The quill feathers are brownish-black, with light umber-brow® dhalfts 5 underneath thev are
lead-coloured. The tail is blacker. Tbe naked parts of tube bead and meek are tredfliäb, the
legs are flesh-coloured, and the daws have a dark botro-cofour.
Form, &c.—The bill measures, from the angle of the mewflih, two indbes and a quarter,
and is moderately thick and straight from its base to beyond äffe middle. The -upper mandible
is covered by cere for more than half Äs length, and its ridge ds sligbrh arched.; its
horny point, an inch long, swells out a little, and has a mesne -decided «curvaturethe -cutting
margin is undulated, the hook which terminates it is rather small. The sunder «mandible has a
deep spout-shaped cavity for the lodgment of Äs grooved tongue, -and its «tip is rounded.
The ttesfrtfc, large, oval, naked, and pervious, are ifongitodirval. and placed nearer to the ridge
of the mandible than to its cutting edge#. The wrinkled skin of sfihe head a nd «upper
part of the neck is thinly clothed with short black hairs, united, on the upper aspect, nviih
down of the same colour. The plumage of the lower part of tbe neck is foil and «compact.,
like that of the back, the feathers being rounded and closely tiled, net pointed and forming a
ruft', as in tbe Californian Vulture; and the line of Junction of the naked skin drreer.K
encircles the neck; while, in the Black Vulture» it descends obliquely kn $rom.. The crop is
nuked and wrinkled, but is concealed by the plumpe «of the neck swriftrng tiw it.
Tbe tips of the folded truths reach to the end «of the tad:; the third and fourth -quill fofcthers
are the longest; the second and fifth are half an inch shorter-; and the fost is Shorter than
* l'W VqsyriiAM Vnlnvie has a wete skater bSk artih aa evea «ötähhg fcrwtisvörsfe httserlls Tin- Ittadk Valnirft » bill <öf an btainnfe&Afe fern, b&weiu -ef twAssy Rp&cfes.