Edna Worrell, aged 9, of Scranton, S.C. for her question:

Do buzzards eat dead buzzards?

Our old turkey buzzard is really a vulture. And the word vulture comes from an older word meaning cleanser. The vultures are nature's garbage men, the cleansers of the woods and the fields. They devour the dead bodies of the mice, rats, birds and small animals that die outdoors.

We call such birds scavengers. We say they eat carrion, which is another word for dead flesh. But imagine what the woods and fields would be like without the scavenger vultures', all outdoors would smell of decaying animals;

Now a buzzard is a graceful bird in flight. But close up he is not a handsome bird. What's more, he gives off a most horrible smell. That is, the smell is horrible t o us. The buzzards Idea of what smells good does not agree with outs. He is attracted by the odor of decaying meat.

So a buzzard might not refuse to eat another dead buzzard. However, he usually prefers smaller snacks such as mice or chipmunks, This is all part of his garbage collecting work.