Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-05-27
THE YOUNG VULTURE
HE Is WILLING TO FIGHT BEFORE
HE IS ABLE 70 FLY.


HE IS ABLE 70 FLY
The FledKeling Has Wonderful
Strenst tn Of Bill. 10 CouraEeous and
Aggressive and Ia AZ Quick Almost
~ q Flash Of Lightning.
In the south there is one bird which
everybody knows whether. be Is a ma
ture student or not. refer to the
turkey vulture, or turkey buzzartl. MS
most people call him. This bird seems
to be an ever present feature of the
southern landscape. for look upward
when you will you may see him sweep
ing the sky with outspread wings.
wheeling in broad circles or soaring In
graceful spirals. with seeming never a
| stroke Of the mighty pinions for hours
at time.
One day l saw vulture sailing thus.
says Ernest Harold Baynes In the
Boston Herald: and carefully marked
his flight until he descended from the
white clouds and disappeared near the
edge of distant wood. Surprising
that he had come down to feed OIL some
carrion-a dead horse perhaps. which
had been dragged just outside of the
woods and left made the best Of my
way to the spot where l lost sight Of
the bird, that might be witness to
the feast.
l arrived at the wood. but neither
bird nor carcass could l see. Then l
bethought Inc that this was the month
Of May, and that perhaps the buzZard
had a nest thereabout. l hunted un-
der the bushes, along the side of fallen
trees and in some old stunps which
were standing near. but not a feather
| was to be seen.
Presently spied log which lay
somewhat 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, l 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 lar
ger than the eggs Of domestic hen.
and in color they We're dirty white.
heavily spotted with chocolate brown.
I left them that l might have an op-
portunity to study the young.
The next time visited the hollow
log the parent birds were not in sight,
but in the nest found two downy
dedgelings, which could scarcely be
called pretty. They were in every way
less attractive than young hawks Of
the same age. They expressed their
disapproval of my presence by a weak
growing sound.
could not visit the spot again for
some weeks, and when I did one of
them had disappeared. The other was
no longer in the hollow log. but stand
Ing at little distance. and was in
terested, to see the change in his ap-
pearance. 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 under parts. and the rest Of
the bird was clothed with firm black
feathers. He looked fat and we'll fed.
reached out my hand and caught
him by one wing. But here he had a
surprise for me, for he seized my fin
i ger in his hooked bill and with turn
Of his head twisted of bit Of the
flesh before had time even to object.
After hurriedly cleansing the wound I
again advanced on the enemy, who
was game enough to satisfy any one
and came to the attack with open bill.
OF course he was not dangerous in the
least. for he was very young and could
not even fly, but for dedgeling the
grip he could give with his bill was
astonishing. .... 49,,
However. picked him up, took him
home and tethered him In the garden
with strap to one leg. The first night
he ate good meal of liver, and after
that he took almost any kind Of meat
that was given him. l let him have
carrion whenever it was convenient.
but at other times he ate freshly killed
frogs, fresh beef, opossum and even
Dish.
One night soon after l had brought
him home went out to see how he
looked when he was asleep. 1t was SO
dark that his black plumage was not
visible against the grass. All l could
see Of him was white spot, his head.
as it hung near the ground.
| approached very quietly and was
within five feet when something hap
pened. Out Of the darkness there came
flash Of white straight toward me
with speed which caused me to step
quickly backward, and at the same in
slant there was startling, rustling
sound. accompanied by cultural
growl, which for a moment did not
recognize as the voice Of the young
yulture. -.: X r$E% :
Altogether It was q most startling
phenomenon, and, although l realized
In moment that the bird was in some
W0v the caIISn NJ r. I ID. not tr,r,xxy