california Condor Eben McMillan 31 July 1963 I was at LaPanza ranch at 8:00 A.M. Chatted with Jake Martins who was interested in what he claimed was a great increase in the Rabbit and Kangaroo Rat Populations this year. I think he is correct, for on the way this morning, via the Pinole ranch and [illegible] Carissa plains, I saw no less than six dead rabbits on the roadway, victims of automobiles or trucks. This is an unusual amount. Some years one will not see a dead rabbit on the roadway for weeks at a time. Jake showed me where the carcass of a dead sheep lay, about 1/4 mile East of the LaPanza Ranch Headquarters. I drove to this location and found 7 Buzzards feeding on this carcass. Most of the meat had already been picked from the Sheep. The Buzzards having gone into the stomach cavity, [illegible] the flanks or the [illegible]. The front rib cavity was still covered by the pelt. I drove up the San Juan River to Beartrap Canyon up which I passed to the Avenales Cattle Co. Property inside which I left the pickup and proceeded on up the narrow canyon on foot. Many California Valley Quail were along the creek bed where water was present. The only pools of any size in which large birds might bathe were at a point where Beartrap Creek makes a turn to the west from a south course. Here, in solid rock, two pools, one about two six feet long and three feet wide; the other smaller and both about eight inches deep in water, still remain. Excrement of large birds was evident on the rock surfaces about these pools. No feathers, other than those of small birds could be found. I hiked on up Beartrap Creek and took up a watch on a hillside to the north of Beartrap Creek and due north of the big Beartrap Rocks. At 10:00 A.M. a Young Golden Eagle with much white in wings and tail sailed out above the high point of the Beartrap Rocks, circled several times and then drifted back and alighted in a Coulter Pine tree on the ridge top between Beartrap and Marteniz Canyons. Eagle calls were heard from coming from the area to the east—