The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-05-25
d 10 II G. Z JI.zI lITsE,)
He is WILING TO FIGHT BEFORE
HE'S ABLE TO FLY.

The FicdSclzE= Has Wonderful
Strength Of Bill. Is Courn Eeou~ and
Aggressive and ~ us Quick Almost
IA. II 3rInsh of Lightning.
In the south there is one bird which
eycrybody knows whether he Is ma
tErc student or not. refer to the
turkey vulcurc. or turkey buzzard. as
most people call him. This bird seems
to he an ever present feature or the
southern landscape, for look upward
when you will you may see hin! sweep
iny the Sky with outspread wings,
wheeling in broad circles or soaring in
graceful sprals. with seeming never
stroke OF the mighty pinions for hours
ut time.
One day saw q vnlture sailing thus
saws Ernest Harold Baynes in the
boston Herald, and l carefully married.
his fight until he descended from the
white. clouds and disappeared near the
edge of q distant wood. SupposinS
that he had come down to feed on some
carrion-u dead horse perhaps. which
had been dragged just outside or 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
TIE feast.
arrived at the wood, bat neither
bird nor carcass could l Sec linen
bctl,olgLt me that this was the month
of May. and that perhaps the buzzard
lad Il nest therea bout. | hunted I'M
der the bushes, along the side Of fallen
trees and in some old stuInps which
were. standing near, but not feather
Was to be seen.
Presently l spied a log which lay
SOM eyhut apart in the shadow of some
shrubs. and as l approached it out
from somewhere came Il big turkey
A,,yz;lrd. which quickly Disappeared
behind the trees. On coming up to the
log which was i large one l found
thut it WAS hollow. and i'll the cavity
there were two eggs. which Doubtless
belonged to the vulture which had just
departed. They We're considerably lar
ger than the eggs Of Il domestic hen
and in color they were dirty white
heavily spotted with chocolate brown
left them that l might have an op-
portunity to study the young.
The next time 4 visited the hollow
log the parent birds We're not in sight
but in tie nest found two oowny
iledgelin-s. which could scarcely be
y
less attractive than young HAWKS Of
the same age. They expressed their
dislpnroval of my presence by Il weak
groyyiing sound. I'd
could not visit the spot again for
some weeks. and when I did one of
tEc.n had disappeared. The other was
no longer i'll the hollow log. but stand
ing Il, a little distance. and was III
tercStrd to the change in his ;p-
peur.trce. In the first place. he had
grown tremendously; tic down which
had Formerly covered the whole ho.!y
was now confined chiefly to the hc:lI
neck and under parts. ANA the rest OF
the bird WAS clothed with firm black
fc:lt!t..S. He looked fat ana vel! TED.
reached out my hand ana caught
him by one wing. But here he had Il
surprise for NE. for he seized my fin.
yr, III his hooked bill and Wit, a turn
of his head twisted OF Il bit of the
flesh before l had time even to object.
After hurricdly cleansing the wound
again advanced on the enemy. who
Was game enough to satisfy any one
and came to the attack with opr:l bill.
OF course he was not dangerous il the
least. i1; he was very youn. ana cGuiI
not ctHu fly but for 4 lct;cc.!.!g the
grip l:r could give with his bill was
aston thing.
However. picked him up, took him
hcE1c and tethcrcd Kim in the garden
With (, strap to one leg. The first night
lie ate good meal Of liver, and after
that he took almost any kind of meat
that was given him. ! let him have
carrion whenever it was convenient.
but at other times he ate freshly killed
frogs. fresh beef, opossum and even
fish.
One night soon after I had brought
him home / went out to see how he
looked when he was asleep. t was so
dark that his black Dlunage was not
visible against the grass. All I could
see of him was Il white spot, his head,
as it hung near the ground.
l approached very quietly and was
within five feet when something hap
penel. Out of the darkness there came
a fash of white straight toward me
with 4 speed which caused me to step
quickly backward, and at the same in
slant there was u startling. rustling
sound. accompanied by n cultural
growl, which for moment I did not
recognize as the voice of the young
future.
Altogether It was most startling
phenomenon. and, although I realized
In q moment that the bird was in some
of