. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. 56 BIRDS OF AMERICA TURKEY VULTURE Cathartes aura septentrionalis IVied A, O. U. Number 325 See Color Plate 43 Other Names.— Carrion Crow; Turkey Buzzard. Description.— Length. 2'/2 feet; spread of wings, 6 feet. Tail, long, and rounded; wings, when folded, reaching to or beyond the tip of tail; head and upper part of neck, entirely bare or with only a few bristles, and with skin deeply corrugated. Adults : Head and upper neck of a reddish tinge and some shades of blue and white; neck and upper parts, blackish glossed with green or purple; beneath,
. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. 56 BIRDS OF AMERICA TURKEY VULTURE Cathartes aura septentrionalis IVied A, O. U. Number 325 See Color Plate 43 Other Names.— Carrion Crow; Turkey Buzzard. Description.— Length. 2'/2 feet; spread of wings, 6 feet. Tail, long, and rounded; wings, when folded, reaching to or beyond the tip of tail; head and upper part of neck, entirely bare or with only a few bristles, and with skin deeply corrugated. Adults : Head and upper neck of a reddish tinge and some shades of blue and white; neck and upper parts, blackish glossed with green or purple; beneath, dull brownish-black; feathers above, broadly edged with dull-grayish brown ; secondaries edged with gray; shafts of wing- and tail-feathers, pale brown or yel- lowish white; bill, dull whitish; iris, brown; feet, flesh-colored. Nest and Eggs.— Eccs : Commonly 2, sometimes i, and very rarely 3; laid, from February to June, in a cave, a cavity between rocks, in a hollow log, or on the ground ; white or creamy, variously spotted with laven- der or purplish brown blotches. Distribution.— From southern Lower California and northern Mexico north to southern British Colum- bia, Saskatchewan, western Manitoba, northern Min- nesota, southern Ontario, western and southern New York, and New Jersey; casual in Wisconsin, Michigan, northern Ontario, and New Brunswick; winters throughout most of its regular range in the East, but further west retires to California, Nebraska, and the Ohio valley. The Turkey Vulture is ugly to the last degree, except in flight, but it is an invaluable health- protector in warm latitudes, where it exists on all forms of carrion, being guided to its food by a sense of sight — not smell. What it lacks in beauty and grace afoot it compensates for a-wing. Its circling form, on motionless, widely out- stretched pinions, is seldom absent from the skyscape of its habitat as it soars in great circles, scanning the ground below. For hours at a time, in fair wea
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidbirdsofameri, bookyear1923
