THE OOLOGIST 



9 



it were for sale. A week later it ap- 

 peared at my ranch one evening in the 

 care of an Indian who, with his squaw 

 had driven down from the hills, some 

 4 miles, to bring it to me. 



On going near the cage with a light 

 it snapped at me most viciously with 

 a hissing like a rattlesnake. 



The next morning I made a pen for 

 it and turned it loose, though not be- 

 fore it had given me a further tokeu 

 of it's good nature by biting savagely 

 at me as I was opening the cage, and 

 drawing blood. 



The yard was 10 by 15 feet and 4 

 feet high, enclosed on three sides and 

 top by a double thickness of 2 inch 

 wire netting, the fourth side being a 

 stack of cord-wood with some project- 

 ing ends that would do very well for 

 perches. 



At first the bird would not leave its 

 box, but on tipping it, it came out with 

 a rush, driving full tilt across the yard 

 to stop with a crash against the fence. 

 Then it backed slowly away and stood 

 for a minute with outstretched neck, 

 gazing toward the hills; then spread 

 its wings to fly away, and then, appar- 

 ently realizing it's impotence, lowered 

 its head and wings with an almost 

 human groan and stood for a minute 

 as if in utter dispair; and then sud- 

 denly starting, rushed round the pen 

 for an hour, frantically trying every 

 crevice to find some way of escape. 

 Then it climbed to a projecting stump 

 of the woodpile and the first thing I 

 knew it was on top of the pile and 

 free, having found an unprotected 

 opening and quickly taken advantage 

 of it. 



It was a very strenuous two hour 

 job to get it back in the pen again. 



After a day or two of uneasiness it 

 settled down to the inevitable and be- 

 came wholly indifferent to my pres- 

 ence. It had a great many visitors 

 when its presence at my place became 



known, and they seemed to disturb it 

 some. It would watch them closely 

 for a few minutes and then would go 

 off to a shady corner and turn its 

 back. 



Dogs interested it more than any- 

 thing and it was all attention when 

 one was near. It would stand with 

 neck outstretched and wings a little 

 raised from the body in a regular 

 fighting pose and would follow one the 

 length of the pen at it went past. 



It paid no attention whatever to lar- 

 ger animals, even when my neighbor's 

 cows lined up five in a row on the 

 other side of the fence or my horses 

 came nosing round to see what new 

 thing I had now. 



At first the buzzards disturbed it 

 some; they are very curious and al- 

 ways want to see and know what is 

 going on. My bird had not been in its 

 pen an hour before they began to ar- 

 rive, sailing back and forth all eyes 

 and curiosity. In the first few days of 

 it's captivity I think every buzzard in 

 Northern San Diego County must have 

 called to pay its respects. It made 

 the bird very uneasy at first but after 

 a while it paid no attention to them, 

 no matter how close they came, but 

 would sit on it's perch with head 

 drawn in close, motionless and appar- 

 ently indifferent. 



Every morning it would take a sun 

 bath, standing with wings partially ex- 

 tended in true buzzard-fashion, and 

 then, after preening it's feathers, it 

 would give a grunt, shake itself and 

 climb back to the perch to doze and 

 dream, maybe. One would hardly ex- 

 pect a vulture to be much of a climb- 

 er, for it's turkey-like feet, although 

 powerful enough, would seem more 

 suitable for ground work, but the pro- 

 jecting ends from the woodpile made 

 it like going up stairs, and the bird 

 would grasp a stick, parrot-like with 



