ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



259 



of the range of the 

 California C o n cl o r . 

 When the hot 

 droughts of the sum- 

 mer dry up the fertile 

 valleys, ranchmen 

 are compelled to take 

 their herds to the 

 higher pastures, deep 

 among the mountain 

 ranges. Here they 

 encounter grizzly 

 bears and panthers in 

 numbers, and havoc 

 is wrought among the 

 cattle and sheep. In 

 return, the half-eaten 

 carcasses are poi- 

 soned and many of 

 these predatory 

 mammals are slain. 

 But not a tithe com- 

 pared to the number of innocent Condors, hun 

 dreds of which have perished while carrying out 

 their habits of life in feeding upon the carrion 

 left by the bears and cougars. 



In Lower California where this cause has not 

 depleted their numbers, another as equally fatal, 

 has all but exterminated them. Gold seekers, both 

 Indian and Mexican, lacking facilities to carry the 

 gold dust, have found an e.xcellent device in the 

 great hollow quills of the flight feathers of the giant 

 vulture. So valuable are these that an o])])ortunity 

 to kill one of these birds is never lost. 



High u]), in the recesses of some inaccessible cliff, 

 a great greenish-white egg is laid and brooded, and 

 here is hatched the ill-fated young Condor, clad at 

 first in the whitest of down. 



For four years the Zoological Society had en- 

 deavored to secure a s|)ecimen of tliis vanishing 

 bird and at last succeeded by a lucky purchase 

 of a young one which had been taken from the nest 

 by a boy. It arrived at the Zoological Park on 

 March 14, 1905, and has now moulted into the 

 full adult plumage. This in general is blackish, 

 with the lining of the wings white; this conspicuous 

 color, showing only when the bird lifts its wings. 

 The bare skin of the head is dull reddish. It is 

 tame and even affectionate with the keepers and the 



IIIK lAI.IFOkMA CONDOR. 



bloom on its feathers, and its bright clear eyes show 

 it to be in perfect health. C. W. B. 



.•\s a result of the second day's drive of the herd 

 of wild elk which for years have made their feeding 

 grounds on the Miller & Lu.x ranch at Button- 

 willow, thirty miles .south of Bakersfield, Cal., 

 twenty-three perfect specimens were captured with 

 the lariat, and of these, twenty lived to be transferred 

 to the Government reserve at Sequoia Park. At 

 least 17s animals are still at large. The task of 

 transferring the herd is to be abandoned for the 

 present. — Chicago Post. 



FEES FOR MEMBERSHIP. 



The fees for membership in ll\e New York Zoological 

 Society are as follows : 



Annual membership $ 10.00 



Life membership 200.00 



Patron's fee i .000.00 



l-oiinder's fee 5.000.00 



Benefactor's fee 35.000.00 



Information and blank forms for membership may be 

 obtained at the Service Huilding, at all entrances to the 

 Zoological I'ark, and at the Secretary's Otiice, No. 11 

 Wall .Street, New York City. 



