ixTRonrcTiox 



It is l)elie\e(l that students of western ornitholdj^y will tind use fi)i" a list 

 of the birds of California arranged in accordance with the most nuderii 

 views on classification. The following arrangement of our species will be 

 obser\ed to depart widely from that presented in most of the current text- 

 books. The majority of the latter in America are based upon the classifica- 

 tion adopted twenty-six years ago in the first edition of the American Orni- 

 tholcjgists' Union Check-List of North A r.crican Birds. 



The system of grouping employed in the following pages is almost 

 identically that based chiefly ujxju Gadow * and presented by Knowlton -. 

 It is also very similar to that chosen by Ridgway in his latest systematic trea- 

 tise on North American birds •'. M}- allegiance to Knowlton's interpreta- 

 tion of the motlern views of a\ian classification results irom my belief, inso- 

 far as I have made inciuiry and am able to judge, that he expresses most 

 faithfully the concensus of opinion of those systematists whose accomplish- 

 ments bring greatest confidence. Knowlton states his system to dilTer from 

 Gadow's in certain minor modificatic^ns necessitated by "the later researches 

 of Pycraft. Beddard, l)'Arc}'-Tliompson, Shufeldt, Ridgway. Lucas, and 

 other well-known authorities." 



It is not for a moment to be inferred that I or anyone else believes that 

 anywdiere nearly a perfect system of classification has been reached. But I 

 do maintain that it is anything but progressi\'e to ignore the present attain- 

 ments in our knowledge of the alTinities of animals, merely because such 

 recognition may entail some incon\enience resulting from the introduction 

 of new names. It should prove not only useful but stimulating to the earnest 

 student of our birds to have at hand an indication of modern views, even 

 though in a mere nominal list. 



The present list of s])ecies is extracted from a synonymic and distribu- 

 tional treatment of the birds of California which I now ha\e on tile in manu- 

 script. It consists of the names of all species l)elie\ed by the writer to 

 deser\e inclusion upon satisfactory grounds. That is. no birds of question- 

 able standing, such as is ordinarily termed hyp(ithetical. are given consider- 

 ation. Wherein diiYerences are obser\ed in specific or subspecific names 

 adopted, and in forms included or excluded, as compared with the latest 

 (1910) editit)n of the A. ( ). U. Check-List. 1 am wholly responsible. My 



U) Cadow, Han.-^. 



1X93. V(">gel. II. S\ stcinatischcr Thcil. pp. vii-|-v304, in Soclislcr Hand, Vicrte 

 .\bllioihmg. Dr. H. (i. Hronn's Klassen uiid ( )r(lnrnson dts Ihi.T-RcicIis (Leip- 

 zig, C. I*". WiiUcr"sclu' W'rlagshandluiig ) . 

 Knowlton, I-'rank II, 

 19(;9. I>irds uf ilu- World - - - "cditiMJ l)y Robert Kidgsvay" (Xcw York, 

 Henry Holt and Company), \ip. xiii-f-S7,^, 16 eol. \A^.. 2.^.3 ills. 

 ^^^ Ridgway, Robert, 



1901-19H. The r.irds of .Xortli .and .Middle .\nierica -- i'.uli, Xo, 50, U. S. Xalional 

 Musenni ( Wasiiington, (iovernnient i^rinting Office), parts i-\. 



