CALIFORNIA CONDOR 9 



nosed him as if asking to be fed, but he responded rather coldly by moving 

 away and she followed. This crowded him out where the limb was too small, 

 and he jumped across back of her. He seemed to get more friendly and the 

 two sat there side by side, nibbling and caressing each other. 



He says also that "they were almost devoid of fear, for several 

 times they stood within five or six feet of us in perfect unconcern." 

 But they were not so friendly to a third condor that twice appeared 

 on the scene; once the old male condor gave chase and eventually 

 drove the intruder away. 



Mr. Finley's condors were very clean about their nest, and the 

 young captive bird seemed to be very fond of clear running water. 

 A. M. Shields (1895) says: "The California Condor is a much 

 cleaner bird than is generally accredited, as one of its favorite 

 habits is to assemble on the bank of some secluded mountain pool and 

 spend hours at a time in bathing and standing around the margin of 

 the clear, cold water. Hunters on coming upon a far removed body 

 of water in localities frequented by the birds, often find numbers of 

 immense feathers around the edge of the stream, discarded by the 

 birds during some of their fresh-water baths." 



Carroll Dewilton Scott contributes the following notes: 



As in the case of most birds and animals with strong individualities, condors 

 appear to be fond of play. In the wild state this most often takes the form 

 of swooping down at another condor. The other bird never seems to resent 

 it and parries the pretended stroke with a deft turn of the body. After swoop- 

 ing at each other several times both birds will presently be sailing about in 

 intersecting circles. One day while I was watching a pair about their nesting 

 cave, both birds lit on neighboring rocks. After a few minutes one of them 

 swung toward the other, and both navigated for a quarter of a mile, first one, 

 then the other, making the dashes. At length they turned and calmly glided 

 back to their respective lookouts. On another occasion, in winter, I was 

 watching a group from a mountain ridge. Presently three immature condors 

 came gliding overhead, their wings partly bowed, making a rushing sound like 

 a stormwind through pine trees. As indicated by their future movements they 

 were not going anywhere in particular. They were just playing. One of them 

 evidently was surprised to see me, for he tried to turn so suddenly that he 

 almost turned a somersault. But he recovered his balance and sailed back 

 over me, then bowed his wings again and shot away in pursuit of his com- 

 panions. In captivity, condors are fond of toying with bones, ribbons, or pieces 

 of paper, no doubt to relieve the tedium of imprisonment. One day a friend of 

 mine and I played for half an hour with a condor at the San Diego Zoo. His 

 kittenish antics were laughable as he thrust his head along the sand or stuck 

 his beak through the wire meshes of his cage coaxing us to give him attention. 



Field marks. — The immense size of the California condor, larger 

 than even the golden eagle, and the white under wing coverts are 

 the most conspicuous characters. Its wings measure 9 or 10 feet in 

 extent, and when the bird is soaring the tips of the primaries are 

 curved upward and slightly forward. If near enough the brightly 



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