several trips east, but the limited time available has permitted exam- 

 ination of only the most important ones. 



As it seemed desirable to have brief understandable descriptions of the 

 birds, the authors have used extensively, with her permission, the descrip- 

 tions written by Florence Merriam Bailey in her Handbook of Birds of the 

 Western United States (192.1 edition), either verbatim or modified as neces- 

 sary to meet more recent subspecific descriptions. Bent's descriptions of 

 downy young birds have also been drawn upon. The first of these two 

 features has been incorporated because of the need of younger students to 

 have convenient descriptions available in one book; the second, in answer 

 to many queries and in view of the authors' own difficulties in finding 

 descriptions of downy young birds before Bent's studies were published. 



In addition to this literature, the authors have had their own notes and 

 specimens, collected whenever opportunity offered as they traveled over 

 the State on other work and during vacation periods that for many years 

 were devoted to filling in the gaps in their knowledge. Jewett has been 

 engaged in collecting and observing birds in Oregon since 1902., with only 

 comparatively brief absences from the State; and Gabrielson, since 1918. 

 Since 1930 both authors have given time and such funds as they could 

 spare to a study of the offshore bird population, about which little has 

 been known. There is still a great deal to learn, but much information 

 has been acquired, the essentials of which have been incorporated in this 

 book. The tabulation and classification of these personal records has been 

 in itself a huge task that has taken many years. 



The mass of available data seemed appalling when the compilation 

 started, and except for the efficient help of Miss Adelaide G. King, who 

 tabulated most of the card records and typed almost all the manuscript, 

 the book would still be far from finished. Notwithstanding this wealth 

 of material, as the work drew to a close, great gaps had a way of showing 

 up in the most unexpected places, partly because of the hit-and-miss type 

 of collecting necessarily practiced and partly because the territory is so 

 large and so varied in topography and faunal conditions that two men 

 could not fill in all of the detail even were they free to devote their entire 

 lifetimes to the task. The authors feel that they have merely laid the 

 groundwork on which others can build intelligently. Existing published 

 records and the unpublished work of the few present-day bird students in 

 the State have been tabulated and brought down to 1935 and thus made 

 accessible for future workers. It is hoped that the book will provide an 

 incentive for many others to take up this fascinating study and carry it 

 much further than the authors have been able to do. The manuscript 

 was completed in June 1935, but a few important records made since that 

 date have been added. Additional distribution data would have been 

 included if time had permitted. The outlook for some of the birds, par- 

 ticularly the migratory waterfowl, is now more hopeful than at that time. 



