LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 



OF PREY 



ORDER FALCONIFORMES (Part 1) 



By Arthur Cle\'Eland Bent 



Taunton, Massachusetts 



Order FALCONIFORMES 

 Family CATHARTIDAE: American Vultures 



GYMNOGYPS CALIFORNIANUS (Shaw) 

 CALIFORNIA CONDOR 



HABITS 



Far from the haunts of man, in the wilder portions of southern 

 California, among the most rugged and rocky gorges and canyons 

 of the less frequented mountain ranges, this magnificent vulture, the 

 largest and grandest of its tribe, still survives. Here in the remote 

 fastnesses of the untamed wilderness it still finds comparative free- 

 dom from the dangers of advancing civilization and may long con- 

 tinue to exist. To see one of these great birds in the solitude of its 

 native haunts gives a thrill well worth the time and effort required. 

 Few have enjoyed the experience, and many are not equal to the task. 

 Only once have I had the opportunity, on ]\larch 17, 1929, when the 

 Peyton brothers guided us to the home of the condors in the moun- 

 tains of Ventura County. It was a long hard climb up a steep, 

 brush-covered slope to the top of a ridge and then a long walk down 

 a wooded mountain trail to the head of a deep rocky canyon. From 

 the trail we could look across the canyon to the rocky summits of 

 the mountains, the home of the condors, where we were delighted to 

 see four of the great birds soaring above the summits or sitting on 

 the rocks. Once two of them sailed over us, near enough for us to 

 see their yellow heads and the conspicuous white patches in their 

 wings. As the trail dipped down into the canyon we found our- 

 selves in the bed of a rocky mountain stream, where we separated 

 to visit three former nesting sites of the condors. My party scram- 

 bled down the rough bed of the stream and then up a very steep, 



1 



