CALIFORNIAN VULTURE. 13 In a subsequent notice, he continues: — "I have never seen the eggs of the Californian Vulture. The Indians of the Columbia say that it breeds on the ground, fixing its nest in swamps under the pine forests, chiefly in the Alpine country. The Wallammet Mountains, seventy or eighty miles south of the Columbia, are said to be its favourite places of resort. I have never visited the mountains at that season, and therefore cannot speak from my own knowledge. It is seen on the Columbia only in summer, appearing about the first of June, and retiring, probably to the mountains, about the end of August. It is particularly attached to the vicinity of cascades and falls, being attracted by the dead salmon which strew the shores in such places. The salmon, in their attempts to leap over the obstruction, become exhausted, and are cast up on the beaches in great numbers. Thither, therefore, resort all the unclean birds of the country, such as the present species, the Turkey- Buzzard, and the Raven. The Californian Vulture cannot, however, be called a plentiful species, as even in the situations mentioned it is rare to see more than two or three at a time, and these so shy as not to allow an approach to within a hundred yards, unless by stratagem. Although I have fre- quently seen this bird I have never heard it utter any sound. The eggs I have never seen, nor have I had any account of them that I could depend upon. "I have never heard of their attacking living animals. Their food while on the Columbia is fish almost exclusively, as in the neighbourhood of the rapids and falls it is always in abundance; they also, like other Vultures, feed on dead animals. I once saw two near Fort Vancouver feeding on the carcass of a pig that had died. I have not seen them at roost. In walking they resemble a Turkey, strutting over the ground with great dignity; but this dignity is occasionally lost sight of, especially when two are striving to reach a dead fish, which has just been cast on the shore; the stately walk then degenerates into a clumsy sort of hopping canter, which is any thing but graceful. When about to rise, they always hop or run for several yards, in order to give an impetus to their heavy body, in this resembling the Condor of South America, whose well known habit furnishes the natives with an easy mode of capturing him by means of a narrow pen, in which a dead carcass has been deposited. If I should return to the Columbia, I will try this method of taking the Vulture, and I am satisfied that it would be successful." Cathartes californianus, Aud. Birds of Am., pi. 426; Orn. Biog., vol. v. p. 240. Cathartes californianus, Bonap. Syn., p. 22. Californian Vulture, Nuttall, Man., vol. i. p. 39. The head and upper part of the neck are bare, but the middle of the fore-
