The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-09-05
A YOUNG vULTuRE.

In the South there is one bird which
 everybody khows whether he is a nature student or not; I refer to the Turkey Vulture. or Turkey Buzzard. as most people call him. This bird seems to be
 an everpresent feature of the Southern
 landscape, for look upward when you
 will, you may see him sweeping the sky with out-spread wings, wheeling in
 broad circles or soaring in graceful
 spirals, with seemingly never stroke
 of the, mighty pinions for hours at a time. One day I saw a vulture sailing
 thus, and I carefully marked it's flight
 until it descended from the white
 clouds and disappeared near the edge of Ia distant wood. Supposing that it had come down to feed on some carrion-a
 dead horse perhaps, which had been
 dragged just inside the woods and left
 I made the best or my way to the spot
 where I lost sight of the bird. that I might be a witness to the feast. I ar rived at the wood, but neither bird nor carcass could I see. Then I bethought
 me that this was the month of May, and
 that perhaps the buzzard had a nest
 thereabouts, hunted under the bushes, along the sides of fallen trees and In
 some old stumps which were standing near, but not a feather was to be seen.
 Presently spied log which lay some what apart, in the shadow of some shrubs, and as approached it, out from somewhere came a big turkey buzzard which quickly disappeared behind the trees. On coming up to the log, which was a large one, I found that it was hollow, and in the cavity there were two eggs, which doubtless belonged to the vulture which had just departed.
 They were considerably larger than the eggs of domestic hen, and in color they were dirty white. heavily spotted with chocolate brown. Ileft them that I might have an opportunity to study the young.
 The next time visited the hollow log, the parent birds were not in sight, but in the nest I found two downy fed
 glings, which could scarcely be called pretty. They were in every way less attractive than young hawks of the same age. They expressed their disapproval at my presence by weak growing sound, could not visit the Ispot again for some weeks, and when I
 did one of them had disappeared. The
 other was no longer in the hollow log,
 but standing at little distance, and I was interested to see the change in his appearance. In the first place he had grown tremendously, the down which had formerly covered the whole body was now confined chiefly to the head, neck and underparts; the rest of the bird was clothed with firm black feath- CTS He looked fat and we'll fed, and living poof of the nourishment there must be in carrion, since young buzzards are fed by reorganization on the partly digested contents of the stomachs of their parents. As I approached, the young bird turned, and with lowered head, walked away rapidly in the direc- ton of some bushes, into which he crawled out of sight. But decided to take him home for further study, so I
 stepped up quickly and pulled him out.
 Here I received my first, personal
 knowledge of the disgusting habits of vultures. for scarcely had seized him when he disgorged such quantity of offensive matter from his stomach that I was glad to let him go again. How ever, the way to do things is to do them so reached out my band again and
 caught him by one wing. But here he had another surprise for me, for he
 seized my finger in his hooked bill, and with turn of his head twisted off bit of the flesh before I had time even to object. After hurriedly cleansing the wound, again advanced on the enemy who was game enough to satisfy any one, and came to the attack with open
 bill. Of course he has not dangerous in the least, for he was very young and could not even fly, but for fledgling,
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