California Condor Eben McMillan 14 August 1963 I was at the Farnsworth ranch about 3 miles south of Glenville, Kern County, Calif. by 8:15 A.M. Turkey Buzzards were already feeding on the cow carcass that had been dragged up into a narrow draw about 3/8th of a mile east by southeast from the Farnsworth house. The carcass had been left in a small opening among the growth of blue oak trees that are growing quite thickly in this canyon. Birds landing at this carcass must let down among these trees that, at the carcass, are about 20 feet high and growing at an average of about one tree to every square rod of distance. Most of these blue oak trees, (Quercus douglasii) are somewhat tubular in growth, that is, not spreading, but some are large and spread over an area of 1000 square feet or more. The north slope of this canyon is not high. From the canyon bottom, that is about 30 feet below the cow carcass, to the ridge top north to the north, is a distance of about 200 yards. West of the carcass, or downcanyon, the oaks become more scattered and the canyon floor more wide and rolling. To the south of the carcass the canyon rises approximately 300 yards to the ridge-top. This side of the canyon is heavily wooded with Blue oak, Digger pine, Buckeye and Ceanothus cuneatus. Near the ridge top the pines grow tall and sparsely limbed, while lower down they are short and bushy. This south canyon slope is not steep except near the top where some rock outcropping occurs. To the eastward of where the cow carcass the canyon narrows and rises steeply. Dense chaparral covers the upper reaches of this canyon that ends about 1/4 mile east of where the cow carcass lay. The elevation of the Farnsworth home at Glenville is about 3200 feet. A road way passes the Farnsworth home and continues in a somewhat circuitous route eastward and around the area where the cow carcass was located remaining at a distance of about 3/8th of a mile from the location