8 THE CONDOR Vol. X 



eleven feet four inches being the largest I have collected. This was secured on 

 the lyoma Pelon Mountains in Santa Barbara County." 



In some of our works on ornithology, the authors seem to think that the Cali- 

 fornia condor lays two eggs, altho there is no authority for such a statement, ex- 

 cept by analogy with the turkey-buzzard. 



One collector states, "I know positively of three instances where they laid but 

 one egg and no instance where they laid more than one. I have talked with other 

 men that know and they say they lay only one egg at a setting, which I am satis- 

 fied is right." Another collector gives these facts, "A condor never lays a second 

 egg in the same season. I h^ve taken eight of them, and never more than one in 

 a nest. Most people think that the bird lays two eggs. I have investigated sev- 

 eral such stories and always found them to be buzzards' nests." 



Major Bendire gives credence to an old wood-chopper who says he saw a 

 condor's nest which was a huge affair, about seventy-five feet from the ground, on 

 the first limb of a redwood tree. The place was near his camp where he had ex- 

 cellent chances of observation. He said that there were two young, and they were 

 nearly three weeks learning to fly. To any one who has studied condor habits, this 

 story discredits itself. 



Fourteen different eggs of the California condor show the following measure- 

 ments in inches: 2.48x4.08, 2.53x4.28, 2.55x4.39, 2.58x4.57, 2.59x4.52, 2.60x- 

 4.30, 2.62x4.38, 2.62x4.44,2.62x4-52, 2.65x4.40, 2.68x4.28, 2.68x4.50, 2.70x4.50, 

 and 2.73x4.22. 



The size and strength of the condor have often been exaggerated. There have 

 been many absurd stories about these birds killing sheep and other animals. A 

 short time ago I saw an account in a daily paper of where a hunter claimed he saw 

 a condor sailing away with a hind quarter of venison in its talons. Mr. Alexan- 

 der Taylor makes the statement that this vulture has been known to kill and carry 

 off a hare in its claws. It is extremely doubtful that one of these birds would ever 

 attack a living animal. The habit of this vulture is to wait till after death. As to 

 the condor's carrying its prey, this is easily discredited by a study of the condor 

 foot. The claws are blunt and weak, and the foot is not adapted for grasping or 

 carrying as an ordinary bird of prey. 



In regard to the range of the California condor, it is sure to be somewhat 

 vague as long as we have wide stretches of rough mountainous regions in the West 

 where little or no study has been given. 



Beginning at the south, Mr. Nelson and Mr. Anthony both record the bird in 

 lyower California. Mr. Anthony states, " I found the bird more or less common 

 along the extension of the San Bernardifxo Mountains, that are known in Lower 

 California as the Lagoona Range. I often saw as many as three at a time, but 

 never shot any. I have not found its nest, nor could the natives of that section 

 give me any information. Some told me that it nested in the crags on the east 

 side of San Pedro, which may very likely be true, but I doubt any one's being 

 able to prove it. The Indians and Mexicans use the large quills from the wings 

 to carry gold dust, and seldom allow a condor to escape." 



Altho we have plenty of records of the condor in L,ower California, we have 

 none directly across the Gulf in Mexico proper. Mr. Ridgway states, "l do not 

 know of any Mexican or Central American record of the California vulture. There 

 are several from Lower California, but none from Mexico proper." 



Among the earlier records, the bird was reported in Arizona, and it was said it 

 had been seen as far east as Utah, but this last was rather vague. 



Mr. Herbert Brown who was stationed at Fort Yuma for some time, and has 



