8 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XII 
in the creek for an hour at a time. He was especially attracted by any small white 
object, such as a light-colored rock, a bit of broken china, or a piece of paper. He 
liked to play about the hydraulic ram. When he decided to bathe, he got under 
the spouting water and wallowed in the pool. He never seemed to feel thoroly 
washt, for when he was soakt thru, he stept out for a moment and then suddenly 
decided to go in again. He kept this up till he could hardly w r alk, or until I drove 
him out of the water. 
General was as playful as a pup. In the morning after I gave him his break- 
fast he wanted to play. Down he jumpt and pounced upon a stick or a leaf, shook 
it in his bill, dropt it, just to jump upon it with both feet and toss it up again. He 
became hilarious the minute he got out of the enclosure; he seemed so much so he 
could hardly control himself. He was extremely fond of pulling on a rope. We 
often played with him in this way. He snatcht the rope in his bill and sat back on 
Fig. 4. GENERAL SUNNING HIMSELF; HE OFTEN SAT ON HIS PERCH BY THE RIVER WITH 
WINGS SPREAD FOR TEN OR FIFTEEN MINUTES AT A TIME 
his haunches with a jerk that almost sent one sprawling; then, finding that he was 
making no headway, he jumpt up and down, flapping with considerable strength. 
When he was first let out, he generally made straight for one of the tents to 
grasp a rope and pull back till he threatened to demolish the whole thing. He of- 
ten amused himself in this way for some time, and he lookt very comical in such 
antics. When I pulled a rope along the ground, he watcht it like a kitten after a 
string and ambled along to catch it. When he got tired of romping, he always 
came up to get his head rubbed and roll about on the ground. He had to be nib- 
bling all the time and liked to tug at my shoe-strings or anything else that he could 
pull. If one of us was sitting in the sun, he would lie flat on the ground, letting 
his wings fall loose, and nose about in perfect content. 
We set up a perch for General out on the river bank just beyond our camp, and 
there he loved to sit in the sunshine. He seemed to enjoy watching the buzzards 
