CONDORS 
In the wild state condors subsist chiefly on carrion. A few of them can 
devour a dead horse or cow in a surprisingly short time. Gifted with amaz¬ 
ing sight, they watch from dizzy heights the activities of beasts of prey on 
the earth below them. When a puma has gorged himself and abandoned 
the carcass of his kill, a condor may dash down and eat the remainder. 
Sometimes they join gulls in eating a dead whale cast up on the shore. 
But condors do not depend on carrion alone for their food. They kill 
mammals and birds, and have been known to attack young goats and lambs. 
Tales of condors flying away with children, however, are purely mythical. 
Actually, the birds can carry comparatively little weight in their claws. 
The Californian condor shares with its South American relative, the 
Andean condor, the distinction of being the largest and heaviest of flying 
birds. Its wing spread ranges from eight to nine feet, and some specimens 
have weighed as much as thirty pounds. Yet, despite this weight they fly 
with great speed, soaring and gliding over their native mountains. 
The Californian condor lays a single egg during the winter months, 
in a cave or recess among the rugged cliffs. The egg is greenish-gray and 
measures approximately four by tw T o inches. The nestlings are covered 
with white down except on the head, which is bare. Theirs is probably the 
longest infancy in the bird world, growth not being complete until the third 
year. The youngsters hiss and growl, while the adult birds are silent. Con¬ 
dors breed in pairs, showing hostility to any intruder. 
In former days these birds were common, their range extending 
throughout California and into Oregon and Washington. Today they have 
been nearly exterminated and are restricted to Southern California, where 
less than ten families are reported to be in existence. In Lower California, 
they are somewhat more numerous. Formerly they were known to descend 
into the open valleys, but today one must usually ascend the most inacces¬ 
sible peaks to find them. 
The dull black condors can be distinguished at a great distance by the 
white wing tip patches on either side. Their heads are pale orange. 
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