THH MUSEUM 



103 



breeii there in thousands i was re- 

 rnarkahle. Probably they h.-ul never 

 before been disturbed by man. We 

 collected a great many of our speci- 

 mens with sticks and could have 

 caii°;ht them in our hands had we so 

 desired. 



We had (]uick trips both ways. 35 

 days from San Francisco to the is- 

 lands and 41 days on ths return voy- 

 age where we encountered a great 

 deal of bad weather. No one was 

 seriously sick on the trip although 

 ••yours truly" had a terrible struggle 

 with Neptune soon after leaving port. 

 Over 3000 bird skins, about 65 large 

 tortoise and a mass of miscellaneous 

 material was secured. 



Notes on tlie Taking of an Egg of 

 ttie California Condor. 



We have recently received a line 

 egg of the California Condor from one 

 of our California correspondents and 

 thinking a short description of the 

 finding of the egg would be of interest 

 to our readers, we copy from his let- 

 ter: 



••The egg was found on the 29th 

 day of April, 1S97, and was fresh. 

 For some time I had noticed a pair of 

 Condor sailing around a certain canon 

 near my home and felt sure they had 

 a nest somewhere in the vicinity. 

 Several trips were made exploring the 

 different cliffs but for a long time I 

 was unable to locate where the nest 

 was. Finally, 1 made up my mind that 

 a certain cliff, ovet 300 feet high, in 

 which were one or two caves that I 

 could see, must contain the egg. To 

 climb the cliff was impoesible, but 

 by climbing as near the top as possi- 

 ble, from adjoining c.iffs, and watch- 

 ing the action of the male, I felt cer- 

 tain that the female was somewhere 

 in the hidden recesses below. I pro- 

 cure. I a liberal supply of rope and after 

 getting as near the top as possible, I 

 fastened one end of the rope to a 

 heavy stick and placed it solidly be- 

 tween two rocks, then by going down 



the rope hand over hand for forty feet, 

 I was able to touch a ledge where I 

 could walk along for some distance. 

 While going down I was agreeably 

 surprised to see the female bird fly out 

 and past me from a certain recess in 

 the rock. After touching the ledge I 

 walked some little distance and found 

 the egg neatly hidden in a cave of rock. 

 This cave was twenty feet high, the 

 bottom covered with loose stones, 

 gravel and some sticks, but no ar- 

 rangement of a nest was made, and I 

 atn inclined to think that the sticks 

 were not carried there, but had fallen 

 from time to time from an adjoining 

 pine tree which grew near the mouth 

 of the entrance and completely hid 

 the rove from view. I had no idea 

 there was a cove there until I went 

 down the rope. 



After securing the egg and carefully 

 packing it in a bo.\ which I tied over 

 my shoulder, I started the ascent of 

 the rope. Anyone who has attempted 

 to climb by a single rope for forty 

 feet, knows what kind of a job 1 had 

 on hand, but after hard work, suc- 

 ceeded and reached the top and then 

 made my way carefully to terra firma. 

 It was the hardest piece of work I 

 ever tackled to secure a single bird's 

 egg, but I felt repaid after all. If I 

 ever make the climb again I shall pro- 

 vide myself with a rope ladder and 

 make the ascent a little easier. 



These birds used to be very com- 

 mon in the mountains, but for some 

 years past one seldom sees a bird, 

 and the job of finding a nest will wear 

 one's patience out. In this case above 

 described it was by the merest acci- 

 dent that I found the birds, as I have 

 hunted many times for them. 



If any of my brother collectors find 

 a nest of this rare bird I should like to 

 see a short description of the find in 

 the Museum. My egg was secured in 

 Santa Barbara county, California. 



