The birds constitute a large group of the animal kingdom. Their chief distinguishing feature is their covering of feathers. Another characteristic is the production of their young enclosed in eggs.
The Vultures.
TURKEY BUZZARD.
The name "vulture" is applied to a family of birds of prey. The bill of the vulture is large and very strong; the head and neck are almost naked, being very lightly sprinkled with down. It is a carrion-devouring bird and does not attack living animals. It displays marvelous quickness in discovering a dead body. Vultures are generally protected in the countries where they are found because of their value in clearing away the putrid animal matter which would otherwise be injurious as well as disagreeable. The American vultures sometimes reach a large size and are very powerful in flight.
The Turkey Buzzard and Carrion Crow, both of which are vultures, are common in the temperate parts of America. The Carrion Crow is found as far North as Carolina. The Turkey Buzzard is not a true buzzard and is wrongly so called.
The Eagle.
Eagles are large and powerful birds. The flight of this magnificent bird is very beautiful and imposing, but its gait when on land is rather awkward. Its food is usually smaller birds and quadrupeds such as hares, rabbits, etc., but it does not hesitate to carry off young lambs or sometimes to destroy sickly sheep. It generally hunts in pairs, one eagle watching at some height while the other courses along the ground and scares the game from the bushes. It lays two eggs of a yellowish-white color with brownish spots on a nest composed of a great mass of sticks, brush and grass. The young are fledged about the end of July. While the young are in the nest it is very dangerous to approach it as the eagles are then extremely fierce and daring. Some instances have been related of children that have been carried off by an eagle, but these stories are very doubtful. Eagles have certainly been known to pounce upon children and carry them a little way, but there are no true accounts of children having been actually taken to the eagles' nest, although there are many stories founded on such a supposition. The beak of the eagle is curved from the face, having a sharp point. Its wings are long and large. They catch and kill their own prey, but unlike the vultures will not eat carrion. The eagle which is found in North America is usually the golden eagle, and inhabits the Western States. The Indians called it "the War Eagle." Its feathers are dark brown.
AMERICAN BALD EAGLE.