A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF CAL- 



IFORNIA LAND BIRDS 



WITH KEY. 



The following descriptive list of the birds of 

 California, includes all species normally occurring 

 within our limits. I have omitted a number of 

 accidental visitants from the east and south of 

 which only one or two occurrences have been 

 noted. I have subordinated subspecies whenever 

 it seemed possible, feeling that the fine distinctions 

 necessary to a comprehension of them are too 

 difficult for the novice. My first aim has been to 

 make the descriptions simple, and all technical 

 terms have therefore been ehminated. 



In my descriptions I have drawn freely from 

 Ridgway's Manual and Coues' Key, and the 

 collection of the California Academy of Sciences 

 has been constantly consulted. The distribution 

 of species is largely summarized from Belding's 

 Land Birds of the Pacific District. 



The beginner is urged to use the descriptions 

 without the key whenever possible, thus fixing in 

 mind the main points of classification. The size 

 of each species is indicated by the average length 

 of the dead bird stretched out and measured from 

 tip of bill to tip of tail, as given in standard works. 

 Allowance must therefore be made in the living 



