BIRDS IN CALIFORNIA 



DR, FREDERICK W. D'EVELYN 

 President of The Cooper Ornithological Club o£ California 



AMERICAN ornithology is to-day placed in the foremost ranks of 

 established sciences. The time when an interest in birds was con- 

 sidered an indication of childish fancy or an aimless fad of some 

 harmless and useless crank is now only spoken of in the past 

 tense. The necessity of a scientific knowledge of the birds of any given 

 region is now deemed obligatory. 



The State of California, with its wondrous climatic variations and life 

 zones, and the great interest inseparably associated with its agricultural 

 possibilities, most certainly should learn to recognize that birds are an 

 asset of great significance. It is now an established fact that success or 

 failure in the varied operations of the agriculturist very largely depends upon 

 the maintenance of the natural balance between beneficial and injurious 

 factors. In the suppression of these latter no one agency has been found 

 more potent than birds. Some five hundred varieties are listed as appear- 

 ing within the boundaries of the State, a richness of avifauna which the 

 city dweller, accustomed only to the aggressive English sparrow, has never 

 even surmised as likely, much less admitted as a reality. Of these varieties 

 how many are there with which the agriculturist, orchardist, or even the 

 nature student are familiar? It must be admitted that it is but a very 

 limited number. With an Increased acreage under cultivation, and a cor- 

 responding increase in destructive insects, does it not become a necessity 

 that a good working knowledge at least of the birds of the locality be 

 obtained, — their habits, their food, and, in short, their economic status, — 

 as an aid or otherwise to the agricultural interests of that region? 



Recently a glaring double-column display-header in a daily newspaper 

 published within a hundred miles of San Francisco, in a region generally 

 considered eminently intelligent, announced that "An awful slaughter of 

 bluejays will be inaugurated during the spring months." To secure this 

 slaughter, prizes of many descriptions, from money to shot-guns, were 

 offered, and thus stimulated the "sportsmen" of that section and the 

 farmers' boys vied with each other in their destructiveness, each hoping to 

 win the blue ribbon for the greatest number of scalps. Interested in this 

 matter, the writer interviewed several of the leading subscribers to the 

 prize fund, — men of standing, men of education, both laity and profes- 

 sional, — and not more than five per cent of these men had any other 

 reason to offer for their part in the fray than that they had heard that 

 "the bird was no good." As a result of that "intelligent" slaughter over 

 six thousand scalps were counted; many more of course not even recorded. 



In connection with field observations, it is very interesting and instruc- 

 tive to note how the regional climatic conditions of California modify the 

 habits of the birds, even to the extent of establishing local "dates" for 

 their breeding and nesting; so that the same species will present varying 

 nesting seasons according to the part of the State they actually occupy. 

 This condition is not generally recognized, more especially in connection 

 with legislation when prescribing closed and open seasons. 



Legislators in framing game laws ought to consult scientific authori- 

 ties and experts who are familiar with the habits and necessities of the 

 animals under consideration. It is absolutely pathetic to notice at times 

 how "legislation is done" for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; 

 total ignorance, heartless indifference, and party barter seem to be the 

 only factors which dominate. There is a moral responsibility and clearly 

 defined relationship in the welfare of the birds, and in return for giving a 

 good account of our stewardship we shall find "our birds" not the least in 

 the many factors which go to make the State of California a land of 

 richness, beauty, and abundance. 



