count of the lack
of water.

"While in Kern County last April, I was informed by a reliable man who
lives near the Tejon Rancho that he had counted twenty-five condors in a
single day, since January 1 of the present year. These were on the Tejon
Rancho, which is an enormous cattle range covering parts of the
Tehachapi and San Emigdio Mountains.

"Our present state law provides complete protection for the condor and
its eggs; and the State Fish and Game Commission, in granting permits
for collectors, always adds the phrase--'except the California condor
and its eggs.' I know of two special permits having been issued, but
neither of these were used; that is, no 'specimens' have been taken
since 1908, as far as I am aware.

"In my travels about the state, I have found that practically everyone
knows that the condor is protected. Still, there is always the hunting
element who do not hesitate to shoot anything alive and out of the
ordinary, and a certain percentage of the condors are doubtless picked
off each year by such criminals. It is possible, also, that the
mercenary egg-collector continues to take his annual rents, though if
this is done it is kept very quiet. It is my impression that the present
fatalities from all sources are fully balanced by the natural rate of
increase.

"There is one factor that has militated against the condor more than any
other one thing; namely, the restriction in its food source. Its forage
range formerly included most of the great valleys adjacent to its
mountain retreats. But now the valleys are almost entirely devoted to
agriculture, and of course far more thickly settled than formerly.

"The mountainous areas where the condor is making its last stand seem to
me likely to remain adapted to the bird's existence for many
years,--fifty years, if not longer. Of course, this is conditional upon
the maintenance and enforcement of the present laws. There is also the
enlightenment of public sentiment in regard to the preservation of wild
life, which I believe can be depended upon. This is a matter of general
education, which is, fortunately, and with no doubt whatever,
progressing at a quite perceptible rate.

"Yes; I should say that the condor has a fair chance to survive, in
limited numbers.

"Another bird which in my opinion is far nearer extinction than the
condor, so far as California is concerned, is the white-tailed kite.
This is a perfectly harmless bird, but one which harries o