ver the
marshes, where it has been an easy target for the idle duck-hunter.
Then, too, its range was limited to the valley bottoms, where human
settlement is increasingly close. I know of only _two_ live pairs within
the state last year!

"Finally, let me remark that the rate of increase of the California
condor is not one whit less than that of the band-tailed pigeon! Yet,
there is no protection at all for the latter in this state, even in the
nesting season; and thousands were shot last spring, in the
unprecedented concentration of the species in the southern coast
counties. (See Chambers in _The Condor_ for May, 1912, p. 108.)"

* * * * *

The California Condor is one of the only two species of condor now
living, and it is the only one found in North America. As a matter of
national pride, and a duty to posterity, the people of the United States
can far better afford to lose a million dollars from their national
treasury than to allow that bird to become extinct. Its preservation for
all coming time is distinctly a white man's burden upon the state of
California. The laws now in force for the condor's protection are not
half adequate! I think there is no law by which the accidental poisoning
of those birds, by baits put out for coyotes and foxes, can be stopped.
A law to prevent the use of poisoned meat baits anywhere in southern
California, should be enacted at the next session of California's
legislature. The fine for molesting a condor should be raised to $500,
with a long prison-term as an alternative. A competent, interested game
warden should be appointed _solely for the protection of the condors_.
It is time to count those birds, keep them under observation, and have
an annual report upon their condition.

THE HEATH HEN.--But for the protection that has been provided for it by
the ornithologists of Massachusetts, and particularly Dr. George W.
Field, William Brewster and John E. Thayer, the heath hen or eastern
pinnated grouse would years ago have become totally extinct. New York,
New Jersey and Massachusetts began to protect that species entirely too
late. It was given five-year close seasons, without avail. Then it was
given ten-year close seasons, but it was _too late_!

To-day, the species exists only in one locality, the island of Martha's
Vineyard, and concerning its present status, Mr. Forbush has recently
furnished us the following clear statement:

"The heat