88 



THE NIDIOLOGIST 



Collecting a Condor's Egg. 



(rARTlCri.ARS OK IHK TAKING OK AN EGC, oK IHK 

 CAI.IFOKNIA CONDOR IN 1 889.) 



THE i)articulars of the taking of the CaH- 

 fornia Condor's egg, now the property 

 of the Editor of The Nidiologisi', 

 have come to hand, and form fascinating read- 

 ing for the Oologist, besides throwing much 

 light on the nidification of this extremely rare 

 species, whose habits have been practically un- 

 known to science. 



We give the story in the collector's own 

 words, as follows: 



" In the first part of the month of May, 1889, 

 while out hunting in the Santa Lucia Moun- 

 tains, San Luis Obispo County, 1 noticed a 

 large Condor fly from a cave in the south side 

 of a mountain, in a perjjendicular cliff about 

 120 feet high. The altitude was about 3,000 

 feet. Being of an inquisitive nature, I under- 

 took to enter the cave from below, for I was 

 sure that I had found the nest of the great 

 birds, once so numerous, /w/ which arc tioiv so 

 scarce. 



" I could without much trouble get within 

 about 50 feet of the mouth of the cave, but 

 there I was obliged to give up the attem])t, as 

 the face of the clifl was too steep for any living 

 man to climb, and I could plainly see that to 

 climl) down from above was impossible. 



" I had about given up the attempt to reach 

 the nest, when the mother bird returned, and 

 alighting in the mouth of the cave, looked 

 down at me, ciiid made a hissing noise similar 

 to that made by a (ioose when it has young. 

 My first thought was to kill the bird, but she 

 flew away and saved me the trouble. 



" Now being sure that I was not mistaken as 

 to the nesting place, 1 examined the place care- 

 fully, and was satisfied that with the aid of a 

 long rope, made fast to a strong manzanita bush 

 above, I could descend the bluff. 



"So next morning I returned with ropes 

 enough to reach from top to bottom, and again 

 scared the Condor from the cave. Then I 

 made one end of the ropes which I had tied to- 

 gether fast to the body of a strong bush. I 

 threw the rest of the rope over the bluff, with a 

 stone to carry it to the bottom. 



" I then went back and came around below 

 to make sure that my rope was all right, and 

 found it was going to work like a charm. 



" I went back to the top of the bluff and 

 fired a shot at the bird to frighten her away. 

 I pulled off my boots and started down the 

 rope, which at places touched the rock, and 

 reached the cave safely. 



"The cave was about 20 feet wide, 30 feet 

 high, and 16 feet deep. The rock, being of 



granite, was very rough and jagged. It was 

 free from earth, but was littered with birds' 

 excrement, decomposed stone, and decomposed 

 shells, which are found in nearly all caves in 

 this range of mountains. 



" In the back part and to the north side of 

 the cave, in a queer looking nest, was the 

 single egg of the California Condor. 



" The nest was on the bare stone. In front 

 was a slight ridge of decomposed stone, which 

 had been raked up by the bird to keep the egg 

 from rolling out, while on the other sides was 

 the bare rock. The nest was about two feet 

 across, and contained all the loose feathers ob- 

 tainable, such as feathers of Owls (which sat 

 blinking in the back end of the cave), and 

 feathers from the bird herself, but not enough 

 to be of much j^rotection for the egg. 



" Having secured the big egg I was at a loss 

 to know how to save it, as it took both of my 

 hands to go on down the rope. But I drew 

 up the end of the rope from below"' and taking 

 off my overshirt rolled the egg up in it the best 

 I could, and lowered it to the bottom of the 

 cliff. Then I went down myself. 



"This being about four o'clock in the after- 

 noon I waited about an hour to see what the 

 old bird would do upon returning. How- 

 ever, she would not come near, but kept fly- 

 ing back and forth about a tpiarter of a mile 

 away. 



" Again going to the top and securing my 

 ropes I went home, and removed the contents 

 of the egg — incubation commenced. 



" The Condor can be killed by poison, but 

 they will eat animals which have been killed by 

 poisoning without it killing them. 



"Condors are not found here at all times of 

 the year. Some winters they are never seen at 

 all. The egg I took is the only one I have any 

 knowledge of having been secured." 



Chickadee. 



" TT^E-DE-DE," a faint and gentle bird song, 

 l"^ drew my attention to the window this 

 -*- morning and there within a few feet 

 distant, hanging from a swaying twig, was a 

 Chickadee, clinging to the spray with one hand 

 and with the other to a dry leaf, w^hich was 

 evidently fastened to its stem in some manner, 

 investigation showing it to be by the web of a 

 tussock moth, and within its folds was the dry 

 shell of the chrysalis and the cluster of eggs, 

 embryos of next summer's brood of caterpil- 

 lars. The little bird was examining carefully 

 the inclosed contents, and apparently es- 

 timating their value for an omelet with a critical 

 eye. 



