74 



THH NIDIOIvOGIvST. 



Habits of the Calfornia Condor. 



BV H. K. TAYI.OR. 



THIv CALIFORNIA VUI/rURI<: or 

 Condor {^Pscudogiyphus califonnanus) 

 is perhaps the most interesting of 

 birds to the American Ornitholot-ist 

 toda\'. \'ery little is known of its habits, 

 and information as to its nidification has 

 been especially meagre. 



It is therefore a matter of pleasure to here 

 present some new facts about this great 

 bird, said to be becoming extinct. 



I have not heard of any record of this 

 \'ulture being seen much north of Mon- 

 tere}-, Cab, in late years, although it was 

 once tolerably common as far north as the 

 Columbia. Its range is at present very 

 limited, and, in spite of the large flock of 

 24, seen b}' Mr. F. Stephenson October 10, 

 '94, in Walker's Basin, the extreme south- 

 ern end of the Sierra Nevada (see Auk for 

 January), I am convinced that the rule with 

 most Ornithologists in California is to see 

 none, and that while by no means on the 

 verge of extinction they are headed in that 

 direction and may pass out of existence in 

 our day. 



L. Belding, the distinguished Ornitholu- 

 gist .says : " It is difficult to believe that 

 this was ever an abundant species in Cali- 

 fornia. It has certainly been verj' rare in 

 the centre of the vState north of latitude 38 

 degrees since the spring of 1856. " 



The birds gather into flocks in the fall, 

 as notes to follow on this Vulture from near 

 Sargents, Santa Clara county, in i88g, will 

 show. The flock seen by Mr. Stephens 

 might have included all of the birds of a 

 great stretch of country. Certainly it is a 

 most unusual occurrence for one to see so 

 many Condors at once, at the pre.sent day, 

 although, in a favored locality, as many 

 and even more were seen at one time in 

 i88g in vSanta Clara county. 



The egg of the California Vulture is un- 

 doubtedly among the rarest in the collec- 

 tions of the world, and as Capt. Bendire 

 remarks in his "Life Histories," "is likely 

 so to continue." Capt. Bendire says in his 

 work: " I have only seen two eggs ot this 

 species, both taken by Dr. C. vS. Canfield, 

 near San Rafael, Cal. One of these. No. 

 99^3. i-"* I'ow in the U.S. National Museum 

 collection; the other I saw in the Academy 

 of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in 1880, 

 but has since disappeared. Both of these 



color and unspotted. The shell of the 

 eggs were of a uniform light grayish-green 

 specimen now before me is close grained 

 and deeply pitted, differing in this respect 

 from the eggs of other Wiltures, and is, 

 like those, slightly glossy." Captain Ben- 

 dire remarks that he has not been able to 

 learn that any eggs have been taken in the 

 past twelve years. 



There are probably but three or four eggs 

 of the California Condor in existence, and 

 one of these I have the honor to claim as 

 my property, having purchased it a month 

 ago at a good round f gure from the collec- 

 tor, who took it in 18S9, and had since been 

 keeping it as a curiosity (!) 



The discovery of this Q^<y gives positive 

 information as to the nesting time, hereto- 

 fore unknown, and is in ever}- way a con- 

 siderable bit of Ornithological news. 



In appearance the egg is almost a fac- 

 simile of the one figured by Capt. Bendire, 

 although I would describe the color as 

 ashy-green. As an unspotted egg is bound 

 to appear flat in a lithograph (see figure of 

 ^^Z in "Life Histories") I have not at- 

 tempted to illustrate this one. 



My &^% was taken in May, 1889, in the 

 Santa Lucia mountains, San Luis Obispo 

 county, Cal., at an altitude of 3480 feet. 



The egg was deposited in a large cave in 

 the side of a perpendicular bluff, which the 

 collector entered by means of a long rope 

 from above. 



The bird was on the nest, which was in a 

 low place in the rock, and was, the collector 

 says, "lined with feathers picked from her 

 own body. " 



This latter asserHon may be an unwar- 

 ranted conclusion. 



There was but the one ^%Z^ incubation, 

 ■'about one week." 



As to the great rarity and consequent 

 value of the eggs of the California Condor 

 there can be little question. 'Tis true that 

 the bird is not yet extinct, like the Great 

 Auk, but I have seen it stated that of the 

 Great Auk we have, all told, 68 perfect and 

 partly perfect eggs in collections, and is it 

 at all likely that anywhere near this number 

 of eggs of our giant Vulture will yet be 

 taken? Considering the fondness of the 

 few that remain for inaccessible mountain 

 peaks, I very much doubt it. In fact, I 

 shall be surprised if six more eggs are 

 taken. 



A description of an expedition in search 

 of Condor's eggs, in May, 1893, may give 



