BIRDS AND MAMMALS. 51 



and sell at a moderate price. It is a pretty bird, and easily 

 domesticated. There are also a large quantity of songsters, 

 finches, sparrows, etc. 



Among the RAPTORKS, Aquila chryssetos Buteo borealis, 

 lineatiis and swainsoni, Cathartes aura, Falco peregrinus, 

 Tinnunculus sparverius, Strix pratincola, Bubo subarticus, 

 Speotypo cunicularia, and many others were occasionally 

 found ; but the rarest of all, the Californian Vulture, Pseudo- 

 gryphus calif ornicus , was seldom seen. It is a very rare 

 bird, peculiar to California. It is the largest of the North 

 American species, rivalling the Condor. It is dark brown, 

 with the head and neck naked. It is very voracious, and 

 when many are together the carcase of a horse or cow is 

 devoured in a very short space of time. The smaller species, 

 Cathartes aura, does not dare to approach them. It is not 

 uncommon to see them assemble with the gulls, and greedily 

 devour the carcase of a whale which has been cast ashore, 

 and they will even pursue weak and wounded game. Among 

 Mammals, squirrels and rabbits were the most abundant, but 

 occasionally deer or bears were seen. The Wapiti deer, 

 Cervus canadensis (?), could be bought in the market nearly 

 every day. It is a large animal measuring four to five feet at the 

 shoulders. It is red-brown, the tail is short, and the horns 

 are round and erect, branching in serpentine curves, measuring 

 six feet and weighing about thirty pounds. They live in 

 small families of six or seven individuals, inhabiting clumps 

 of woods, and feeding upon grass and young shoots of trees. 

 The flesh is coarse ; but if left for a few days to mature good 

 roasts can be made with it. 



The bears are not so common, but nevertheless many 

 were sent to the market, and the meat fetched a good 

 price. A bear-steak was considered a great delicacy by 

 connoisseurs. Occasionally a grizzly bear, Ursus ferox, was 

 also to be seen. It is a large species measuring nine feet in 

 length, and weighing sometimes 800 pounds. It is the most 

 ferocious species of bear, very powerful, and extremely 

 dangerous to approach when wounded. It feeds some 

 times upon fruits and roots, but at others it preys upon 

 animals. The bison is said to be no match for this ferocious 

 animal. After killing it, it will drag the carcase to some 

 retired place where it digs a pit for its reception, and returns 

 to feed upon it till the supply is exhausted. Probably, like 

 the other species of Ursidae, they lay in caves during the 

 winter, which they pass in a dormant state, and without food. 



