BIRD NOTES AFIELD 



of birds are found within these limits, so many, in fact, that 

 the novice would be quite bewildered should he undertake to 

 inspect them all. However, a beginning must be made, and 

 our feathered neighbors must become more popularly known. 

 Let us content ourselves for the present with a few glimpses of 

 the birds in their native haunts, and trust that enough interest 

 may be aroused to stimulate an enthusiasm which may grow 

 into a genuine acquaintance. 



There is something about the bird which appeals to every 

 one — its lightness and freedom from constraint, its power and 

 its grace. It charms us with its song, and its plumage is a de- 

 light to the eye. There is cin almost human atmosphere about 

 the home life of the nest. What can surpass the devotion of 

 the mother bird for her little ones? But with all our instinc- 

 tive love for these precious waifs of the woodland and sea, 

 we take little pains either to know them or to protect them. 

 The confines of California harbor several hundred species, of 

 which some half-dozen are popularly and inaccurately known, 

 while in every town within our limits are found the two most 

 persistent and destructive enemies which our bird neighbors 

 know — the small boy with his gun and egg collection, and the 

 woman with her bonnet adorned with a mutilated carcass. 

 Accordingly I will invite you to go afield with me to-day and, 

 if possible, get some general notion of our rich treasure which 

 is bemg so lavishly ruined — to the end that you may perhaps 

 learn in time to know and love the birds, that you may find in 

 their companionship a new sympathy with the universal life 

 which is throbbing about us, and that you may be moved to 

 lift your voice and hand to arrest the slaughter of your new- 

 found friends. 



[2] 



