192 



NESTS AND EGOS OF 



sheep, calves, and other cattle of the stockmen. Upon these poisoned remains the 

 birds feed and perish. It is at present restricted to the area of the Pacific coast 

 ranges as above stated. It Is more common in the warm valleys of California, 

 among the almost inaccessible cliffs of the rough mountain ranges running parallel 

 with the Sierra Nevadas for a hundred miles south of Monterey. They may te 

 found in those places, where the foot of man has never trodden. For years this bird 

 has been thought to be on the verge of extermination chiefly for reasons stated 

 above, but by the indefatigable labor of several ornithologists within the last ten 

 years, we are led to believe that the bird will still be able to hold its own. Accord- 

 ing to the late Maj. Bendire it does not seem to be decreasing in the barren mountain 

 ranges in the vicinity of Santa Barbara. The writer has a mounted specimen taken 

 in Monterey county, May 10, 1890, and a number of specimens have been taken 

 within the past few years in the mountainous regions which this bird inhabits. A 



324. California Condor (From Tenny, after Audubon). 



young bird was taken July 7, 1896, from a nest which was simply the bare floor 

 of a cave high up in the cliffs in Monterey county, overlooking a dark canyon with 

 the stream about 300 feet below. It is in the possession of Mr. Frank H. Holmes, of 

 Berryessa, California. This specimen is well illustrated from life at about eight 

 months old in The Nidologist for February, 1897, page 58, with a full text regarding 

 his peculiar habits in confinement. It associates with the Turkey Buzzard, 



