2 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFOBNIA 



of thein for all time. Here in California the situation has not yet 

 become so serious ; we are in a somewhat earlier stage of development. 

 We have still an opportunity of studying the circumstances, learning 

 the facts, and taking the remedial measures indicated thereby. But 

 the time for action is short ; already one species, the Columbian Sharp- 

 tailed Grouse, is gone, and certain others are threatened. The neces- 

 sity of calling attention to this danger is another reason for the 

 publication of this book now. 



The authors fully recognize the fact that there are a number of 

 people in this state who by reason of their long experience as hunters 

 possess, in this regard, better qualifications for the authorship of a 

 book on game birds than the present writers. But these persons are as 

 a rule so engrossed in business that they themselves have not sufficient 

 time to put through such a work. Some of them, however, together 

 with certain other interested people, have placed the necessary means 

 at the disposal of the authors, who, realizing their own shortcomings, 

 have utilized their opportunities to the best of their ability. They 

 have attempted to compensate for their lack of direct knowledge in 

 the field of hunting by conversing and corresponding with sportsmen 

 of experience, and they have each visited hunting grounds at the 

 opening of different shooting seasons, with the object of learning 

 something of the viewpoints, methods, and field-lore of Californian 

 gunners. 



As regards the technical handling of the book the authors feel 

 themselves on much surer ground. They have been able to derive 

 first-hand information for almost all of the technical descriptions from 

 museum specimens or from live or freshly killed birds in the field, 

 and they have reviewed the literature of the subject in an exhaustive 

 and discriminating manner. They are accordingly reasonably confi- 

 dent of the accuracy of their descriptions of birds, nests, and eggs, 

 places of nesting, and of the habits of the several species. But with 

 regard to the sportsman's notions and evaluations of the several 

 species, and his preferred methods of hunting them, they have had to 

 rely chiefly on second-hand information. 



The authors have been fortunate in having at their disposal a large 

 amount of museum material. The specimens contained in the Cali- 

 fornia IMuseum of Vertebrate Zoologj% and in the private collections 

 of J. and J. W. Mailliard, J. Grinnell, H. S. Swarth, and G. F. Morcom, 

 have provided a basis for almost all assertions, independently of what 

 has been previously published on the subject. "When western mate- 

 rial failed to supply needed facts, recourse has been had to eastern 

 collections. Among eastern institutions which have granted the use 

 of specimens or given information are the United States National 

 IMuseum and Bureau of Biological Survey, in Washington ; the 



