4 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Young. — The period of incubation is said to be from 29 to 31 days. 

 Wliether both sexes incubate does not seem to be known. 



Mr. Finley (1906) was fortunate enough to begin his study of 

 the young bird at the very beginning, for on his second visit the 

 condor chick had only recently hatched. He writes : 



When we climbed over where we could look between the rocks and see into 

 the cave, the old bird was on. I went closer and could see her bald head 

 of orange color, and the great black bird still sat on the nest. I climbed 

 up within four feet of her and whistled and yelled till she rose on her feet. 

 She looked so big that I shrank back at the thought of her pitching in to defend 

 her young, for when she rose, I glanced in and saw a youngster not larger 

 than the egg [see pi. 3]. Uis head was bald like his mother's, but baldness 

 did not signify age in this case, altho his head was fleshy-pink in color. 

 He was weak for he could hardly kick, and he seemed to raise his head with 

 difllculty as he cried out in a wheezing, hissing note. Beside him lay the 

 end of the egg from which he had emerged not many hours before. He was 

 not yet dry. He was not even well clothed, for behind his little wings, the 

 flesh was bare and his belly was bare, while the rest of his coat was down of 

 pure white. 



At first the mother arose and her neck feathers ruflled up in anger. Then 

 as her baby began to squirm, she put her head down and covered him partly 

 with her bare neck. 



Being unable to scare the old bird from the nest and wishing to 

 photograph the young one, Mr. Finley gently removed the young 

 bird. The little fellow became so chilled during this process that 

 its mother would not accept it. Mr. Finley revived it with the heat 

 from his own body and returned it to the nest again. "For an 

 instant she paid no attention to him, but just then he began to stir 

 and wriggle. Her eyes changed from their vacant stare; she sud- 

 denly seemed to recognize her nestling, and putting her bill down 

 she drew him gently near, crouching down at the same time and 

 finally drawing him under her breast." 



When Mr. Finley (1908) made his third trip to the nest, on April 

 11, 1906, the young condor was 19 or 20 days old. He says: 



When we climbed around to the nest, we found the condor nestling had 

 grown from the size of the egg, or from about a double handful, till he filled 

 my hat. The down on his body had changed color from a pure white to a 

 light gray. Instead of the flesh color on his head and neck, it had changed 

 to a dull yellow. He sat with his shoulders humped and his head hung as if 

 in the last stage of dejection. The minute he saw me, he began crying in a 

 note most peculiar for a bird, for it sounded exactly like the hoarse tooting 

 of a small tin born. However, he only used this note a few times ; then he 

 began hissing. He showed his resentment by drawing in his breath and letting 

 it escape as if thru his nose. His feet were short and stubby, the feet of a 

 scavenger. What a deterioration from the eagle ! The claws were like those 

 of a chicken rather than a bird of prey. The head, the bill and even the look 

 in the eye were very different from the savage expression of the eagle even in 

 his babyhood- 



