258 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY' BULLETIN 



even four, and seldom 

 the same number on 

 each leg. When the 

 young are hatched, the\', 

 like most pheasants, run 

 about at once, and fol- 

 low close behind their 

 mother, finding ample 

 protection under her 

 long, arched tail. At her 

 call they will run out, 

 seize what bit of food 

 she has found for them, 

 and then hurry back to 

 shelter. WTien the chicks 

 are hatched under ban- 

 tams, or other domestic 

 fowls, this instinct is 



often harmful, for so closely do they group them- 

 selves behind their foster mother, that they are in 

 constant danger of being struck and killed by her 

 feet as she scratches in the ground. 



There are, in the collection, two interesting 

 species of Grouse, possessing unusual interest. The 

 far-famed Capercaille is a splendid game-bird of the 

 pine forests of Europe. The male is dark feathered , 

 with a dignified mien, and when excited the feathers 

 of the head and neck are expanded, making the bird 

 look even larger than it is. A cock will sometimes 

 weigh twelve pounds, but unlike most game-birds, 

 its swift flight is almost noiseless. 



THE I,.-\DV AMHEliST I'llE.VSANT 



In April the male 

 selects some high pine 

 and here he utters his 

 "spel" or love-song. It 

 consists of three notes, 

 each repeated several 

 times, and to such a 

 pitch of excitement does 

 he work himself, during 

 the latter part of the 

 utterance, that it often 

 proves to be his un- 

 doing. His ecstasy is 

 such that he apparently 

 becomes blind and deaf, 

 and, knowing this, the 

 wily pot - hunter creeps 

 quietly up just at this 

 moment and easily kills the performer. Many 

 cocks may thus be traced and shot within a 

 short time. 



Another magnificent game-bird of the pine and 

 birch forests of Europe, is the Black Cock, or Black 

 Grouse. The males have a bare open space on the 

 ground where, in turn, they strut with drooping 

 wings and curious antics before the hens. All 

 their strutting and fighting is forgotten when the 

 hens begin sitting, the males then going un- 

 concernedly off by themselves, leaving to their 

 patient mates all the labor of incubation and rearing 

 of the young. c. w. B. 



THE CALIFORNIA CONDOR 



"T^HREE species of vultures are found in the United 

 States, the turkey, black, and California 

 Vulture. The two former are well known, at 

 least in the southern states, where we can seldom 

 glance at the sky without seeing one or more black 

 silhouettes against the clouds, as magnificent in 

 their flight as they are repulsive in feeding habits. 

 Recognized everywhere as valuable scavengers, 

 they are protected by general sentiment as well as 

 by law and if not actually increasing in numbers, 

 are everywhere at least holding their own. 



Not so the California Vulture, or Condor as it is 

 also called (Gynitwgyps calijornianits). Its doom 

 is near: within a few \fars at most, the last indi- 



vidual will have perished. Formerly of much wider 

 range, it is now confined to a mere dot on the map 

 near the Pacific in southwestern California, al- 

 though a very few individuals still exist in the pe- 

 ninsula of Lower California. Here, among the wild 

 mountain gorges of the Sierra Nevada, the pitiful 

 remaining handful of these splendid birds, cling to 

 life. On the wing, the California Condor is the 

 largest and most graceful bird which inhabits our 

 country. The bald eagle with wings spreading six 

 or seven feet is dwarfed in comparison with this 

 great bird, whose pinions span from nine and one- 

 half to nearly eleven feet. 



Tiu-re are se\cral causes for the rapid contracting 



