CALIFORNIAN VULTURE. 13 



In a subsequent notice, he continues: — "I have never seen the eggs of the 

 Californian Vulture. The Indians of the Columbia say that it breeds on the 

 ground, fixing its nest in swamps under the pine forests, chiefly in the Alpine 

 country. The Wallammet Mountains, seventy or eighty miles south of the 

 Columbia, are said to be its favourite places of resort. I have never visited 

 the mountains at that season, and therefore cannot speak from my own 

 knowledge. It is seen on the Columbia only in summer, appearing about 

 the first of June, and retiring, probably to the mountains, about the end of 

 August. It is particularly attached to the vicinity of cascades and falls, being 

 attracted by the dead salmon which strew the shores in such places. The 

 salmon, in their attempts to leap over the obstruction, become exhausted, and 

 are cast up on the beaches in great numbers. Thither, therefore, resort all 

 the unclean birds of the country, such as the present species, the Turkey- 

 Buzzard, and the Raven. The Californian Vulture cannot, however, be 

 called a plentiful species, as even in the situations mentioned it is rare to see 

 more than two or three at a time, and these so shy as not to allow an approach 

 to within a hundred yards, unless by stratagem. Although I have fre- 

 quently seen this bird I have never heard it utter any sound. The eggs I 

 have never seen, nor have I had any account of them that I could depend 

 upon. 



"I have never heard of their attacking living animals. Their food while 

 on the Columbia is fish almost exclusively, as in the neighbourhood of the 

 rapids and falls it is always in abundance; they also, like other Vultures, 

 feed on dead animals. I once saw two near Fort Vancouver feeding on the 

 carcass of a pig that had died. I have not seen them at roost. In walking 

 they resemble a Turkey, strutting over the ground with great dignity; but 

 this dignity is occasionally lost sight of, especially when two are striving to 

 reach a dead fish, which has just been cast on the shore; the stately walk 

 then degenerates into a clumsy sort of hopping canter, which is any thing 

 but graceful. When about to rise, they always hop or run for several yards, 

 in order to give an impetus to their heavy body, in this resembling the 

 Condor of South America, whose well known habit furnishes the natives 

 with an easy mode of capturing him by means of a narrow pen, in which a 

 dead carcass has been deposited. If I should return to the Columbia, I will 

 try this method of taking the Vulture, and I am satisfied that it would be 

 successful." 



Cathartes californianus, Aud. Birds of Am., pi. 426; Orn. Biog., vol. v. p. 240. 

 Cathartes californianus, Bonap. Syn., p. 22. 

 Californian Vulture, Nuttall, Man., vol. i. p. 39. 



The head and upper part of the neck are bare, but the middle of the fore- 



