The Audubon Societies 



41S 



gentler in disposition or more affectionate 

 in his home life. The range of the Cali- 

 fornia Condor is more restricted than that 

 of any other bird of prey. The few left 

 in the wild state live almost entirely in 

 the coastal mountains of southern Cali- 

 fornia and a part of Lower California. 

 Unless careful protection is given the few 

 Condors remaining in the wild mountain- 

 ous regions, this largest of flying birds 

 will soon cease forever to be a part of the 

 natural history of California. 



If you were to start on a hunt for the 



retreats of panthers, grizzlies, and coyotes. 

 These preyed upon the calves and sheep, 

 and did considerable damage. The quick- 

 est and best device for getting rid of these 

 animals was by baiting carcasses with 

 poison. The Condors came to feed on 

 the poisoned animals, and large numbers 

 of the big birds were undoubtedly killed 

 in this way. 



We knew "General" before he took up 

 his residence in the park, where he has 

 been living since October, 1906. He first 

 saw the light of day on March 22, 1906, 



EGG OF THE CONDOR IN THE NEST IN THE CAVE 



California Condor, you might search for 

 years, as we did, without success. In the 

 whole world's collections, less than a 

 dozen of these birds are to be seen alive. 

 In the various museums of the world one 

 can find almost twice as many eggs of the 

 Great Auk, a bird now extinct, as of this 

 Condor. The main cause which has been 

 given for the decrease in Condors seems 

 to be that when stock-raising became com- 

 mon in California years ago, the rangers 

 were compelled, in order to secure pasture 

 during the dry months, to drive their 

 herds back into the more remote moun- 

 tainous parts. Here they invaded the 



in a cave back in the mountains of south- 

 ern California. During April, May, and 

 June, we made several pilgrimages over 

 the rough mountain trails to his rocky 

 shrine. On July 5, when this young Con- 

 dor was about three months and a half old, 

 he was taken from his home cave to 

 Oregon, where we kept him for two months 

 and a half, and thus had a good chance to 

 study his character. 



A young Condor is the incarnation of 

 ugliness to most persons, and is known only 

 as a degenerate and a carrion-eater. But 

 there is more than this in the Condor 

 nature. He readily adapts himself to 



