Vul′ture, the common name for various carrion-eating birds of the Old World. They are birds from two to four feet long, and the largest of them have an expanse of wing from nine to ten feet. Their head and part of the neck are destitute of feathers. There are six species more or less common about the shores of the Mediterranean. Two of these inhabit Africa, and the other four are found in Europe. There the crested black vulture is the type; it is one of the large vultures, reaching a length of nearly four feet. It ranges east through Asia to China and south into northern Africa. Other common species are the griffon, the Nubian or eared vulture and the Egyptian vulture. These birds are called the true vultures; they are closely related to the eagles and to buzzards. A number of American birds, belonging to a different family, are also called vultures. They include the black vulture or carrion-crow, the turkey-buzzard and the California vulture. The American vultures are found chiefly in the southern states. The turkey-vulture or buzzard, a large, blackish-brown bird with a red head, is a very familiar bird of the south, protected by law because of its services as scavenger and its harmlessness, not preying upon barnyard fowls. This bird is gregarious. Large companies are to be seen about rubbish heaps at edge of southern towns or soaring high over fields. The black vulture or carrion-crow also is very common in the south, and is a great scavenger. It is smaller than the preceding, but has a heavier body. Its flight lacks the grace that marks the soaring of the turkey-buzzard. It is very bold, and troops of crows walk about the streets of southern towns. See Condor, Crow (Carrion) and Turkey-Buzzard.
