NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK HOLLISTER. 579 



pretty and valuable species which eats many grasshoppers, mice, and 

 other pests of the farmer. Cooper's ha^Yk {Accipiter coopcrl), an- 

 other of the smaller species of America, is more destructive to poultry 

 and birds. 



AMERICAN VULITJRES. 



A group of raptorial birds peculiar to America includes our com- 

 mon turkey vulture or " buzzard," the carrion crow, and the condors. 

 There is little necessity for showing specimens of the turkey vulture 

 {Cathartes aura) in cages, since many wild birds of this species make 

 the park their permanent home. The retired wooded slopes border- 

 ing the Zoo offer ideal congregating and roosting places for all the 

 " buzzards ■' of the surrounding country. The birds are encouraged 

 to remain here as an added attraction to the park, and many visitors 

 from Northern States to whom the " buzzard " is an unfamiliar sight 

 are delighted to see them at such close quarters and to watch their 

 graceful flight. 



An unusual visitor to the park in 1917 was a specimen of the more 

 southern black vulture {Coragyps uruha)^ a bird rarely seen in a 

 wild state in this vicinity. He appeared one morning, with the wild 

 turkey vultures about the buildings and, strangely enough, soon lo- 

 cated the cage containing birds of his own species, in the immediate 

 vicinity of which he remained for several weeks. 



The California condor {Gymnogi/ps calif ornlanus) formerly 

 ranged northward along the Pacific coast to the Columbia River and 

 was an abundant bird in southern California. It is now rarely seen, 

 great numbers having been poisoned by the ranchers in efforts to ex- 

 terminate the carnivorous animals. A few linger in parts of southern 

 California and in the San Pedro Martir Mountains of Lower Cali- 

 fornia, Mexico. It is deplorable that so fine a member of our avi- 

 fauna should disappear, but the same fate is in store for other less 

 notable species — even the exceedingly beneficial turkey vulture, after 

 long years of protection, is now under the ban of mistaken legisla- 

 tion and is becoming greatly reduced in numbers in many of our 

 Southern States. Three splendid specimens of the California condor 

 are show^i in an outside cage west of lion-house hill. 



The South American condor (VvUur gri/plms) is found up to an 

 elevation of 16,000 feet in the Andes. A splendid specimen of this 

 truly magnificent bird is on exhibition. 



Another striking, bird of this group is the king vulture {Saivorain- 

 phus papa) , also of South America. It is a beautifully colored spe- 

 cies which has a habit of strutting or dancing with the body held 

 rigidly erect, the wings partially spread, and the head thrown, for- 

 ward against the breast. 



