THE TURKEY VULTURE. 549 



fishen". Fannin saw Uvd at Burrard Inlet in Septeniljer, 1880, and this 

 remains the hitest recnrded occurrence in the Xnrthwest. 



On the whole it appears iniprobaljle that tlie CahtDiMiia Cnndor was 

 e\'er resident in \\'ashint;tiin, certainlv not within tlie nieniorx' of the white 

 man; and its r.orthern apptarar.ccs are to l)e regarded soleh' as tlie fishing 

 excursions of a Southerner. 



In Cahfornia these great N'uhures were <jnce common, and one ohser\'er. 

 a Dr. Caufield, of jNhjnterey, claims to have seen as many as one hundred and 

 fifty at a time. But their numbers ha\-e l:)een greatlv reduced thru the agency 

 of pc^iisoned carcasses. j)ut out h}' stockmen and ranchers to protect their 

 flcjcks and herds from bears and wolves. The}- are still to be found in 

 limited numbers in the coast ranges and high Sierras of southern Califoi-nia, 

 where they are exceedingly war_\- save in the \'icinit\' of their nests. 



Tlie llight of the Condor is <lescril)ed as l)eing the ])erfection of ease, 

 lor without a]>parent ettort it soars upward until it lieconits a mere speck 

 in the sky. Tn this \\a\- it is able to command an immense territor\-. and on 

 the occasion of a kill In* a hunter ai)pears to come from the in\isible blue in 

 an incredibh- short space (^if time. 



Being of more roljust build than tlie Turke\- \'uhures. Condors are able 

 to rend fresh carcasses. Com])anies of them lia\e been known to despatch 

 a slain deer in an hour and a grizzly in iwo. But Xhev do not object to 

 steaks a Id Fraticais if they lia]ipen not to arrive till some days later. A 

 feast is not forsaken while the table lasts, and indi\iduals too full lo naxigate 

 have been captured witli the lasso. 



The Condor lavs its single egg earlv in March u])on the Hoor of a ca\e 

 or rock\- recess of some unfre(|uented canon, and tlie successful rearing of 

 the voung requires fi\'e or six months. Messrs. Finlev and Bohlman success- 

 fulh' ex])Ioited a Condor's nest in southern California in the siiring and 

 summer of iQofi, and the series of photogra])hs secured bv them is not onlv 

 uni(|ue for tlie species, but remains a mo(lel for this s(irt of woi-k. 



No. 222. 



TURKEY VULTURE. 



A. O. U. Xo. 323. Cathartes aura septentrionalis (\\'ied.). 



Synonym. — Ti'rkkv Buzz.vrm. 



Description. — .Adult: Head and neck all around naked, livid crimson: above 

 lustrous black with ])urple and violet reflections, varied bv gra\isli brown edgings 

 of feathers: phmiage changing below to more uniform sootN- brown, lustrous onlv 



