Two eggs generally constitute a nest-full, although instances are known where but a single egg was deposited. On the Falkland Islands they are said to lay three occasionally. In the West Indies, especially in the Bahamas, the complement is the same as in the United States, and there does not seem to be any difference in the habits of the birds in the two places. Specimens from New Jersey, Texas, Florida and South Carolina are creamy-white in ground, and are variously marked with shades of brown, intermingled with splashes of lavender and purple, which are often so faint as to be perceptible only upon close examination. Brewer mentions a variety from near Cheraw, S. C., that was nearly pure white, and which showed but a few small red and slightly purplish lines and dots about the larger extremity. Recently we have met with some from Texas answering the same description. In dimensions these eggs vary but little, and have, on the average, a length of 2.78 inches, and a width of 2.00, or rather less.
_Cathartes aura_, as the Turkey Buzzard is known by the scientific naturalist, is far from being demonstrative in the expression of her feelings. When her home is assailed, she makes no ado, but quietly slips out, and seemingly contemplates its desecration with indifference.
Though manifesting a passive disposition in the face of human interference, yet she is not always the gentle being she would have us believe, as shown by the spirit of dominancy she displays over her own household.
Unlike many of her neighbors, she does not entirely assume the responsibilities of brood-raising, permitting her partner the happy enjoyment of a life of luxurious ease, but, believing in the doctrine of a proper division of labor, forces upon him his share of the work.
Whilst she thus appears unduly exacting towards him, she is equally so to her offspring. Few mothers know better than she the right training of their children, so as to fit them to become useful and respectable members of society.
This is no figment of the imagination, as will presently be seen. It was while exploring a section of Delaware County of this State for minerals in the summer of 1894 that some interesting facts were learned of the relation subsisting between her and the rest of her family.