The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1900-07-01

4 Variety Worth $1, 900 Or More
to Collectors.
r1aIIsHHAE's DIFFICULT MISSION

s~rhe-t M. BceEIey. Who I'm Collect
s.x BIrdr' Eggs For . Rothschifd.
Wirl Make Great EGort to secure
eue OF the California Condor-Factn
Asoas Collecting.
Herbert NJ. Beesley OF Beurnemouth.
rngland, who has been engaged for
NO years in collecting brds' eggs for
ape Of the younger Rothsehilds In Lon
I aou. came up the coast from Mazatlan,
Mexico, the other day. During the
.sxt few months he will be engaged in
safbering eggs of a few species of rap
.orec. or birds of prey, that are found
.owhere else than on the edges of
Saeserts in Arizona and northern afexi-
~ Then he will make an extraorIi-
nary effort toward securing the egg OF
: tbe California condor among the Sier-
sras saws the Los Angeles correspond
snt of the New York Sun. There is no
sgg since the extinction of the great
suk more highly priced by biologists
tban that of the California condor.
II am not ut all sangaine of success
IN that line said he, but have been
,nformed of a locality among the high
sst Sierras where hard and thorough
esploration may possibly yield Cali
fnruia condor's egg if one is to be pick
II mn nowadays. | believe the last
eec of this variety was found in 1887
and was sold 10 the Ames collection of
Rosfon for something like $500. SO
the chance is worth taking. There are
several oologists of my personal ac-
auaintance who would not hesitate to
nav 81 900 or $1,000 for an egg of a
california or Sierra condor. | have
known of even more than 1,j00 hav-
ING been paid for such an egg, The
egg of the great aux is beyond market
value nowadays. There are only about
AZ in the world, and the bird has long
been extinct In 1891 French oolo-
eist sold great aux egg for $4,000.
aWby are the eggs of the California
condor SO valuable! Because the birds
are almost extinct noY and Will be
wholly extinct in less than ten years
+ and also because there is no other bird
that nests so far out of human reach.
A great many people confound the
ccmmon buZZnrd or turkey vulture of
the Sierras with the monster condor.
Though both belong to the same fami-
iy. there is n wide difference between
them. They are both vultures, but are
best known hy the common names now
in general use. The turkey buZZards
are as plentiful as sea gulls along the
sea wall, and buzzard eggs are too
common to excite comment. except
when they are little off color. There
Is as much difference between the eggs
Of these birds of the same species as
there is between chickens egg and
robins. The condor egg is almost twice
as big as the buzzard's and totally un-
like in appearance. 1t is 44 inches
long and Dig inches in thickness and
will hold nine fluid ounces of water. In
color it is Of pale greenish blue and
resembles no other egg in respect to
size and color except that Of the Euro
pean swan. The buzZard's egg is not
much bigger than a chickens. 1t is OF
deep creamy tint. blotched and
smeared with red. brown. chocolate
and not infrequently lavender spots.
The condor lays one or pair Of
eggs during season. while the buZ-
zard lays half dozen or more. The
buEzard is common to the whole Unit
ed States, while the North American
condor is peculiar 10 California. 1t is.
IN fact the largest bird III the world.
The turkey buzzard is puny in compar-
ison. The California condor's spread of
wing varies from S to - feet. It's
.angth is nearly five feet and its weight
from 20 to - pounds. 1t is Il rcpulsive.
uncanny bird with its bald head and
bare neck Of shriveled' red skin and its
enormous wrinkled. Scrpcntiike comb
extending from its head below The
herce beak. In fight it soarS higher
nan any other ftatlhprcd creature aud
alls through the air with infinite ease
and grace. In contrast the huzzard is
heavy and clumsy. y distinguishing
Il feature of the two birds in flight is the
iarge white blotch under the wings of
me condor. which is missing in the
puzzard. Any place is good enough for
llie eondor's nursery-that is. if it is
Iar enough from man To he safe. The
6ird Is usually so cunning in the selec-
u0n of localities that even if one could
uiscover its eggs lie never could reach
mem. So far as known there are only
nine condor eggs in the collection of the
various scientific institutions of -Ameri-
"a The last two were recently secured
ny the National museum of Washing
'oh. BY various professors at the east
efn institutions the eggs were recently
valued at l.6o0 apiece.
peculiar fact in collecting birds
eggs is the wide difference in value Of
esgs OF the same family of birds. For
Instance. there is the great family Of
hawks. Some hawks eggs are worth
out a few cents each. and others find d
ready sale at So. So and 81 each, 1t
makes a 500 bill look dilapidated to
Duv complete set of even western