PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION 



My little book on the birds of California has been written for those who 

 wish an introduction to our familiar birds in their native haunts. If it per- 

 suades some few of its readers to go out-of-doors and look at nature with a 

 more friendly and inquiring eye, its purpose will have been accomplished. 

 That a certain skeleton of scientific classification should underlie the work 

 has seemed necessary in order to convey to the uninitiated some inkling of 

 the systematic grouping of the Veirious species, but I have endeavored to 

 subordinate the science to life wherever possible. 



Several of the essays have been previously published in Zoe, The San 

 Francisco Call, The Land of Sunshine, and A Berkeley Year. To 

 the publishers and editors of these I am indebted for allowing their republi- 

 cation. I am also especially obliged to Mr. Leverett M. Loomis for many 

 courtesies during the preparation of my work. The superb study collection 

 of California birds in the Museum of the California Academy of Sciences 

 heis formed the basis for working up the descriptive list of the appendix. 



C. K. 

 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION 



During the seven years that have elapsed since the publication of " Bird 

 Notes Afield," some changes have been made in the established names of 

 California birds, the range of a few extralimital species has been extended 

 to the State, and several new climatic forms have been distinguished within 

 our confines. The present edition has been amended in these respects; 

 also, an index and a sketch of bird life on the upper Sacramento River 

 have been added. The charming photographs of vs^ld birds taken in their 

 native haunts by Messrs. Herman T. Bohlman and William L. Finley are 

 a great contribution to this new edition. 



The study collection of the California Academy of Sciences, which 

 formed the basis for the descriptions in the appendix, was entirely destroyed 

 in the San Francisco fire. I have consulted Joseph Grinnell's " Check List 

 of California Birds " and Florence Merriam Bailey's admirable " Handbook 

 of Birds of the Western United States " in making revisions. 



C K. 



Iv] 



