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THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



ing. The big bird had seized the snake 

 behind the head and was struggling up- 

 ward with its writhing, deadly burden. 

 The snake's captor appeared aware that 

 its victim was dangerous. The burden 

 was heavy, as the reptile was nearly five 

 feet long. The great pinions of the vul- 

 ture waved rapidly as it slowly ascended 

 from the mountain mesa. Although 

 large in size, these vultures are not as 

 strong as they appear to be. Up and up 

 and up went the bird and the rattlesnake. 



The grip of the bird on the snake's 

 body was not of the best. The snake 

 seemed to be squirming from its captor's 

 talons at least sufficiently to enable it to 

 strike at the great bird. The triangular 

 head of the snake was seen to recoil and 

 dart at the mass of feathers. It did this 

 once or twice, and then with a shriek the 

 vulture dropped its prey, The bird was 

 then probably 500 feet or so above the 

 observers. The astonished men below 

 were then treated to a spectacle seldom 

 seen anywhere. Few birds but a vulture 

 could accomplish such a feat. The in- 

 stant the snake escaped from the bird's 

 clutches it dropped earthward like a shot. 

 And like a shot the bird dropped after it, 

 catching the astonished snake in midair 

 ere it touched the ground with a grip 

 that caused death. At any rate, the 

 snake ceased to wriggle, and the vulture 

 soared away to a mountain peak to devour 

 its hard-earned meal. Why the snake 

 did not bite the vulture and cause the 

 death of the bird can only be explained 

 by the fact that the thick feathers prob- 

 ably protected the biped's flesh from in- 

 cision by the reptile's fangs. 



These vultures are closely allied to the 

 common turkey buzzard. Their color is 

 a glossy black, with patches of white un- 

 der the wings. The greater part of the 

 neck is bare, like the turkey buzzard, 

 with a ruffle where the feathers begin. 

 There is a bright orange patch on 



the head. A fair sized specimen of the 

 California vulture is four feet high and 

 weighs about twenty pounds. Years 

 ago, when these huge birds were common, 

 it was a familiar sight in the valleys to 

 see California vultures and buzzards feed- 

 ing on the same carcass in perfect har- 

 mon5^ while occasionally a raven would 

 join them. These vultures were frequent- 

 ly caught alive, when gorged, by a lariat 

 in the hands of a cowboy. One cause of 

 the extermination of the vulture in Cali- 

 fornia has been through the medium of 

 poisoned meat, prepared by ranchers to 

 kill pestiferous animals. The breeding 

 habits of the vulture are practically un- 

 known, although it is supposed to nest 

 in caves or cliffs, like the turkey buz- 

 zard. Owing to the practical extinction 

 of the bird its eggs are as rare and valu- 

 able as are those of the great auk, and 

 will probably become more valuable. 

 Some fifteen perfect eggs of the great auk 

 are in collections, one of these eggs being 

 worth $1,500 or more. Only two eggs 

 of the California vulture are known to 

 exist. Even the National Museum at 

 Washington does not possess one of these 

 valuable specimens. 



Observations of bird life at different 

 places along the route of the boundary 

 survey, which often took the naturalists 

 into the mountains, were of rare interest. 

 At one point along the shores of a small 

 lake many dead birds were seen. These 

 birds were known as the "eared grebe." 

 The bodies of the birds found within the 

 limits of a given distance were counted, 

 and the number of dead birds about the 

 shores of the entire lake was estimated at 

 350,000. It was thought that one of two 

 causes, or both combined, must account 

 for the death of so many birds. Either 

 the water, which was saturated with salt 

 and soda, was in some way injurious to 

 them, or remaining to search for proper 

 food, which did not exist in the lake, 

 they became so weak as to be unable to 

 fl}^ and died of starvation. It is said by 

 old guides that this tremendous bird 

 mortality occurs at this particular point 

 regularly every year. 



