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 Jan., 1910 SOME BIRD NOTES FROM VENTURA COUNTY 19 Aer0nautes melan01eucus. White-throated Swift. Plentiful along the summit of the Santa Ynez range and down among the rocky cliffs of the Matilija Canyon. Numerous cliffs were seen with cavities in and out of which Swifts flew; but the adventurous spirit was not strong enough in me to attempt a nest robbery under the conditions. Nuttallornis b0realis. Olive-sided Flycatcher. Common around the Santa Ynez Mountains; one nest 'was seen in a fir. The birds were seen well down the. slopes toward the sea. Ardea her0dias her0dias. Great Blue Heron. A 1one Blue Heron was seen a quarter of a mile from shore, out in the ocean, standing placidly on a mass of kelp! Gymn0gyps calif0rnianus. California Condor. To any ornithologist, the first sight of this wonderful bird, and the first entry of that name in one's note book, is certainly a moment of great satisfaction. I was wearily ascending the last hundred feet of Divide Peak, in the Santa Ynez Mountains, and thinking of all the reviving agents known to man, when I suddenly came on three of these great birds, sitting stolidly upon a great boulder upon the very top of the mountain. It seemed, then, that without any other motion than a lazy stretchin g of their wings, and the posing anew of the whole body, that they could change from a bird to a speck, and then vanish. No bird can equal that exhibition of aviation. (That is a late word, but applies here very. well. ) The same Condors, no doubt, were the ones which different members of our party saw almost daily around the same spot. Eight were seen in a11, the other five occurring as follows: One on Red Mountain; three near Sulfur Mountain, and one near Matilija. The three birds of Divide Peak seemed always to stay together. From all the accounts of the natives of the mountains, the Condor is a rather com- mon bird, and its presence is to be expected in all the spurs of the main mountains of Ventura County. It is reported as numerous in the vicinity of Devil's Gorge on the Sespe. One day I witnest a competitive flight between a Condor and a Turkey Buz- zard. What a world of difference between the respective grace and speed of the two birds! And the Turkey Buzzard is a first class performer on the wing, at that. A DEFENSE OF OOLOGY By MILTON S. RAY WITH ONE PHOTO BY OLUF J. HEINEMANN EFORE giving my views to the readers of THE CONDOR I wish to state I consider oology an inseparable part of ornithology, but, as it has been separated by some and completely divorced by others, I am forced to use the term. The first point I wish to take up is: Is oology scientific or popular ornithology? In the opinion of some, perhaps many, the structure and classification of birds is considered the more scientific; in fact a division has been made, terming this "scientific ornithology" and relegating the study of eggs, young, nests and all else to another division termed "popular ornithology." It would seem to me that in- asmuch as the eggs are produced by the bird's anatomy and hold new life, they are