CALIF DUMA COX DOR 77 



(hint and tame. (Reprodutrd from studies at Phimmcr Island in the 



Potomac River, near Washington. 



The CaHfornia condor is the hir<i;est and one of tlie rarest of North 



American birds. It is not so heavy as the condor of the 



^ , ^ Andes but has a shghtlv i^reater spread of wini;, eii'ht and 



Condor Group V ' t i , . . . 



one-half to eleven feet, in the group the visitor is sup- 

 posed to be standing in the interior of the cave where the bird has its 

 nest and is looking down on the river of the caiion which is more than 

 five thousand feet below. (Reproduced from studies in Pirn Canon, 

 California.) 



The foreground of the group shows a detail of the island that is painted 



in the background. The young birds are feeding and it 



^^^ ^ will be noticed that one fledgeling is reaching well down the 



Grouo mother's throat after the predigested food. (Reproduced 



from studies at Monterey, California.) 

 Formerly this area w^as an arid place with a characteristic desert bird 



fauna. Now the ranchmen have irrigated the land and 

 V 11 r aquatic bird life abounds. This group is a good illustration 



of the influence of man on the bird life of a region. 

 In the breeding season the flamingos congregate in great numbers in 



their rookeries. There were estimated to be two thousand 

 ^ nests in this colony. The flamingos construct their nests 



by scooping up mud with their bills and packing it down 



by means of bills and feet. The nests are raised to a height of twelve 



or fourteen inches; this protects eggs and young from disasters due to 



high water. Only one egg is laid in the nest, and the young is born 



covered with down like a young duck and is fed by the mother on 



predigested food. The brilliant plumage of the adult is not acquired 



until the fifth or sixth moult. (Reproduced from studies in the Bahama 



Islands.) 



In this group is shown a portion of a coral islet on which 



00 y^n three thousand boobies and four hundred man-of-war birds 



Man-of-War . i ,. i i i i • i 



Bird Group were nestmg, the former on the ground, the latter m the sea 



grape bushes. (Reproduced from studies in the Bahama 

 Islands.) 



The abundance of bird life in one of these rookeries is quite astound- 

 ing. In this group are roseate spoonbills, snowy egrets, 



_ , American egrets, little blue herons, Louisiana herons, ibises. 



Rookery / t^ , . 



Group cormorants and water turkeys. Because of the great m- 



accessibility of this island it has been one of the last places 



to escape the depredations of the plume-hunter. (Reproduced from 



studies in the Everglades of Florida.) 



The golden eagle is one of the most widely distributed of birds. In 



