Jan., 1908 



LIFE HISTORY OF THE CALIFORNIA CONDOR. PART II 



in a tree, and altho this record has been repeated in many books on ornithology, it 

 cannot be regarded as completely authentic. It may safely be said that the nesting 

 site of the California condor is always a pot-hole in the side of a cliff, a cave, or a 

 recess in behind a large rock on the steep mountain side. There is no effort at 

 nest building, but the single egg is laid on the bare ground. 



The egg which Mr. Taylor secured weighed ten and a half ounces and the con- 

 tents weighed eight and three-quarter ounces. A specimen that was killed on the 

 beach at Monterey at this time was carefully measured by Mr. Taylor. It weighed 

 twenty pounds; from beak to the end of tail feathers it measured four feet and a 

 half; from tip to tip of wing it measured eight feet, four inches; one wing, three 

 feet three inches; tail feathers, twelve in number, fifteen inches long. 



As to the size of a full grown California condor, Mr. Frank Stephens says: 

 "I believe that a bird that measures full ten feet, laid on its back on the floor and 

 marked at wing tips without reallj^ stretching the bird, is an exceptionally large 



PAIR OF ADULT CONDORS ON A FAVORITE PERCH 



bird." Mr. Stephens gives the measurements and weights of six different condors 

 as follows: the first three killed at Julian, the fourth at Ballena, and the other 

 two at Santa Ysabel, California. 



1. March 13, 1888; length 44.1 inches; spread 102.4 inches (1120x2600mm.); 

 female, not quite mature; weight 16 pounds. 



2. May 11, 1888; length 45.7; spread 112.2 (1160x2850 mm.); adult male; 

 weight 19 pounds, evicerated. 



3. June 2, 1888; length 43.1; spread 110.7(1095x2795); weight 21 pounds. 



4. June 25, 1888; length 44.3; spread 110; adult male; weight 20 pounds. 



5. May 10, 1899; length 44; spread 112; female, not quite mature. 



6. May 24, 1899; length 45; spread 112 (1140x2845 mm.); adult male. 



Mr. Arthur Wilcox says, "The average weight of the California vulture is 

 twenty pounds, twenty-six being the maximum. The spread of wings is nine feet. 



