File:Birds that hunt and are hunted; (1905) (14749926312).jpg

Identifier: birdsthathuntar00blan (find matches)
Title: Birds that hunt and are hunted;
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors: Blanchan, Neltje, 1865-1918
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: New York, Doubleday, Page & company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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compels a numberof the great birds to repeat the prolonged process of settling tosleep. But, very frequently, the traveller in the South noticesbuzzards perched, like dark spectres, on the chimneys of houses,at night, especially in winter, in order to warm their sensitivebodies by the rising smoke, and, after a rain, they often spreadtheir wings over the flues to dry their water-soaked feathers.This spread-eagle attitude is also taken, anywhere the bird hap-pens to be, when the sun comes out after a drenching shower. Without exerting themselves to form a nest, the buzzardsseek out a secluded swamp, palmetto scrub, sycamoregrove, or steep and sunny hillside, and deposit from one tothree eggs, usually two, in the cavity of a stump, or lay themdirectly on the ground, under a bush, or on a rock—any-where, in fact, that necessity urges. Rotten wood is a favoritereceptacle, but the angular bricks of ruined chimneys are notdisdained. The eggs are of a dull yellowish white, irregularly 306
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Vultures blotched with chocolate brown markings, chiefly at the largerend. Very rarely eggs are found without these markings.Laying aside, for a time, his slothful ways, the male carefullyattends his sitting mate. As a colony of buzzards, when nest-ing, indulges its offensive defensive action most relentlessly,few, except scientists, care to make a close study of the birdsnesting habits. Black Vulture (Catharista atrata) Called also : CARRION CROW Length—About 24 inches. Wing spread over four feet. Male and Female—Dull black ; under part of point of wings silvery gray; head, neck, and base of bill dusky; tip of bill and feet flesh colored or grayish; head and neck bare.Range—Common in South Atlantic and Gulf states, through Mexico to South America. Occasional in Western states. Rare north of Ohio.Season—Permanent resident. With a heavier, more thickset body than the turkey buz-zards and shorter wings, this very common carrion crowmay be identified in mid-air by its comparative

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