THE NIDIOIvOGIST. 



75 



CALIFORNIA CONDOR 



an idea of the difficulties of such a quest. 



The party was composed of Perham W. 

 Nahl and the writer, and with a rope and 

 tackle, guns and other paraphernalia, we 

 planned to invade the home of the Condor 

 in the wild, mountainous country of San 

 Benito county, where a tew pairs were said 

 still to breed. 



Saddle-horses were secured at Sargent's, 

 and the journey was pursued southward 

 into the rough country for more than two 

 days. With a saddle for a pillow, tucked 

 in a blanket by some creekside. where the 

 IvOng-tailed Chat, fit comrade to the Mock- 

 ingbird sang unceasingly in the moonlight, 

 plans were formulated for taking the eggs 

 of the Condor. In a region unknown to 

 the collectors, where only terrible cliffs and 

 deep abysses were sure to be found, the 

 prospect was not any too alluring. One 

 some rocky ledge, perhaps, the great Con- 

 dor would be seen perched, and then to 

 reach this in search of eggs a man of Steele 

 nerve and stout heart must descend a rope, 

 perhaps hundreds of feet- — only an inch of 

 manilla between life and death. 



A length the home of the Condor was 

 reached, a lonesome gorge with pinnacles 

 and spires of rock and terrible descents, 

 where at night the wild cry of the fox was 

 answered only by the oft-recurring notes 



of the Poor-will — voices of desolation from 

 the rugged rocks. 



The next day, with a great coil of rope, 

 a telescope and other requisites, a journey 

 was undertaken on foot in search of the 

 Condors and their eggs. The rifle, being 

 too heavy for the toilsome climb, was left 

 in camp, and thus the nest hunters pro- 

 ceeded into a region wild enough for the 

 imagination of Dante himself. Several 

 hours of hard climbing brought them to a 

 rocky eminence , where an unsurpassed 

 view was obtained of the deep gorge below 

 and the hundreds of jagged cliffs and points 

 of rock beyond. White-throated Swifts 

 whirred dizzily about the face of a cliff 

 near by, an Eagle soaring high above and 

 at a distance Turkey vultures flapped in 

 lazy circles. A survey of the surrounding 

 country through the telescope revealed no 

 Condors. 



Of a sudden, when expectation had be- 

 gun to fall, a great shadow glided over the 

 farther hill and above it was seen, sailing 

 in majesty and at ease, a black bird of im- 

 mense size. He alighted on a small tree 

 by the side of a rock about a quarter of a 

 mile distant. A moment's study with the 

 glass proved him to be a California Condor. 

 Any doubt as to this would have been 

 quickly dispelled by observing the Turkey 

 Vultures, themselves birds of no mean size 



