Nov. 1906 | LIFE HISTORY OF THE CALIFORNIA CONDOR. PART I 141 
bare neck. Then it was evident we could not scare her from her den. But we had 
to have a picture of this baby bird, the nestling of the largest bird that flies, and 
one that is so rare in the ornithological world. Crawling over closer where I could 
look thru the crevice in the rock, I got down within three feet of the mother as she 
sat hovering her chick. I could almost touch the white on her shoulder and plainly 
see the blood-red eyes that watched me, and the edging of white on her wing- 
feathers. But she sat still till I reached in with a short stick, when she drew back 
as if to strike, but I had the advantage of her, for I knew that in that narrow place 
the big bird was almost helpless. When she arose and stepped back, 1 gently rolled 
THE YOUNG CONDOR AT THE AGE OF FIFTY-FOUR DAYS. PHOTO TAKEN MAY 15, 1906. NO 
FEATHERS SHOWING YET. WEIGHT ABOUT SEVEN POUNDS 
the chick over nearer to me and reached in and took him in my hand. The mother 
sat in sullen silence. 
We immediately set up the camera in the pelting rain and focused it on a shel- 
tered spot just outside the den of the old bird, then placing the chick on the ground 
took a snap of him. Covering him quickly so as to keep him warm, we tried four 
more exposures in about the same position. But the darkness of the weather made 
a slow exposure necessary and the youngster wiggled most of the time. But by 
that time it suddenly dawned on us that he was getting chilled and I hastily put him 
back in the nest. 
But to my chagrin, the old bird just sat with her head down and paid no atten- 
