Jan., 1910 
SOME BIRD NOTES FROM VENTURA COUNTY 
19 
Aeronautes melanoleucus. White-throated Swift. Plentiful along the summit 
of the Santa Ynez range and down among the rocky cliffs of the Matilija Canyon. 
Numerous cliffs were seen with cavities in and out of which Swifts flew; but the 
adventurous spirit was not strong enough in me to attempt a nest robbery under 
the conditions. 
Nuttallornis borealis. Olive-sided Flycatcher. Common around the Santa 
Ynez Mountains; one nest was seen in a fir. The birds were seen well down the 
slopes toward the sea. 
Ardea herodias herodias. Great Blue Heron. A lone Blue Heron was seen a 
quarter of a mile from shore, out in the ocean, standing placidly on a mass of kelp! 
Gymnogyps californianus. California Condor. To any ornithologist, the first 
sight of this wonderful bird, and the first entry of that name in one’s note book, is 
certainly a moment of great satisfaction. I was wearily ascending the last hundred 
feet of Divide Peak, in the Santa Ynez Mountains, and thinking of all the reviving 
agents known to man, when I suddenly came on three of these great birds, sitting 
stolidly upon a great boulder upon the very top of the mountain. It seemed, then, 
that without any other motion than a lazy stretching of their wings, and the posing 
anew of the whole body, that they could change from a bird to a speck, and then 
vanish. No bird can equal that exhibition of aviation. (That is a late word, but 
applies here very well.) 
The same Condors, no doubt, were the ones which different members of our 
party saw almost daily around the same spot. Eight were seen in all, the other 
five occurring as follows: One on Red Mountain; three near Sulfur Mountain, and 
one near Matilija. The three birds of Divide Peak seemed always to stay together. 
From all the accounts of the natives of the mountains, the Condor is a rather com- 
mon bird, and its presence is to be expected in all the spurs of the main mountains 
of Ventura County. It is reported as numerous in the vicinity of Devil's Gorge on 
the Sespe. 
One day I witnest a competitive flight between a Condor and a Turkey Buz- 
zard. What a world of difference between the respective grace and speed of the 
two birds! And the Turkey Buzzard is a first class performer on the wing, at that. 
A DEFENSE OF OOLOGY 
By MILTON S. RAY 
WITH ONF, PHOTO BY OEUF J. HEINEMANN 
B EFORE giving my views to the readers of The Condor I wish to state I 
consider oology an inseparable part of ornithology, but, as it has been 
separated by some and completely divorced by others, I am forced to use 
the term. 
The first point I wish to take up is: Is oology scientific or popular ornithology? 
In the opinion of some, perhaps many, the structure and classification of birds 
is considered the more scientific; in fact a division has been made, terming this 
“scientific ornithology” and relegating the study of eggs, young, nests and all else 
to another division termed “popular ornithology.” It would seem to me that in- 
asmuch as the eggs are produced by the bird’s anatomy and hold new life, they are 
