Chapter 7, Woodpeckers and Animal Rites Summary and Analysis

One strange bird is the turkey vulture. Turkey vultures glide beautifully. From a distance, until one really knows them, they are readily mistaken for hawks or even eagles. The naïve will only notice that they have an impressive wingspan and are often not alone. The author devotes three pages to these magnificent creatures and introduces them as among the 'most misunderstood' type of bird.

They are scavengers, but nevertheless are designed along the lines of predators. Vultures are considered to have ugly heads by most human standards. They are associated with death because they may appear when death is approaching- they won't attack the living being, but will hang around until it dies, if they can tell it is going to go. Readers may find a strange, spooky similarity at times to...