Mar., 1908 LIFE HISTORY OF THE CALIFORNIA CONDOR. PART III 63 



the mother saw her gray nestling, she flew across to the rocks above us. Then she 

 ran along the steep slope, but had to help herself with her wings to keep her feet, 

 and hopped up on a small oak limb just above the nest and only twenty feet distant. 

 The old male followed and both sat watching us from the tree. It was all anxiety 

 with them, and we were so anxious to get their pictures that we could not shoot 

 fast enough. In a short time, all our plates were gone and we had to sit down and 

 watch, and wish for more. 



This gave us the best chances to study both the old birds. Their bills were of 

 dark horn color and the red skin of the head extended down covering the bill about 

 half way. The feet were of similar color, but on each knee was a patch of red. 

 There was a brighter patch of red on the breast of each bird, which could occasion- 

 ally be seen when they were preening and when they spread their breast feathers. 

 Both had light-colored wing-bars and the primaries were well worn. The skin on 

 the throat hung loose and the lower mandible fitted in close under the upper, giving 

 the bird a peculiar expression. The chin was orange and below this on the neck 

 was a strip of greenish-yellow merging into brighter orange on the sides and back 



I.EAVING THE OLD STUB 



of the neck. The top and front of the head were bright red, but between the eyes 

 was a small patch of black feathers, and these extended down in front of the eye 

 till they faded into the orange red of the neck. The pupil of the eye was black, but 

 the iris was deep red and conspicuous. The top of the head was wrinkled as if 

 with age. The ruff, or long shiny black feathers about the neck, was often ruffled 

 up, giving the bird a savage appearance. Behind the ruff on the back the feathers 

 were edged with dark brown. 



When we made the next trip into the mountains, to our surprise a third condor 

 appeared above the nest in the afternoon. He was a ragged looking bird, with two 

 or three feathers out of his wings and one missing from his tail. We first noticed 

 the new bird as we saw the parents watching him intently when he was high in the 

 sky. He began circling nearer and nearer till he finally lit on the side of the 

 mountain a few hundred yards up the canyon. The parents watched him closely 

 for some time without a move, till the new arrival, thinking his presence was not 

 objectionable, flew down and lit nearer the nest. The male set out after him and 

 the third condor flew back up the canyon. There was some objection to the new 



