Peristareaat lena) Ne eb Ur el eran 5 
On April 25 Mrs. Junea Kelley showed us shorebirds near Alameda — 
incredible numbers of least and western sandpipers, plenty of marbled 
godwits and Hudsonian curlews, knots, semipalmated and_ black-bellied 
plover, and lovely avocets, as well as Caspian and Forster’s terns. Sad to 
say, this shorebird paradise is to be drained for a housing project. 
Different aspects of Califoinia wildlife were shown to us by Mrs. Enid 
Austin in Marin county just north of San Francisco. In Muir woods (a 
national monument) we walked under the ancient, mighty coast redwoods, 
Sequoia sempervirens; the sunshine filtering through their high crowns 
shone on their grey and brown bark and great burls, on splendid sword 
ferns and California polypody growing thick on moss-covered maples, on 
yellow violets, star flowers and redwood oxalys.* Western flycatchers 
called, creepers and winter wrens sang. We drove up Mount Tamalpais 
and walked around its summit, Mrs. Austin identifying for us the different 
shrubs in the chaparral as well as the fascinating wild flowers by the road- 
side. Much of the region is still wild and its beauty is not defiled by bill- 
boards, thanks to the Marin County Conservation Society. 
A week at the Yosemite was the climax of the trip. On the afternoon 
of April 26 we started, and before long came to green grass, oaks and 
brilliantly green California buckeyes besides a few lovely madrones. Soon, 
however, we reached sadly over-grazed hills with only a suggestion of green 
upon them. In the San Joaquin valley were valley oaks, willows and cotton- 
woods, but mostly great orchards of grapes and almonds, walnuts, figs and 
peaches. There were many, many redwings, some western meadowlarks 
and Brewer’s blackbirds; a turkey vulture and sparrow hawk were the only 
raptors on the 150 miles. At one town what should have been a fine view 
of the Ccast ranges was largely hidden by an enormous billboard.  Bill- 
boards also defaced the wild pasture country as we drove east. 
Suddenly in the distance we saw the Sierra Nevada — John Muir’s 
“Range of Light,” — magnificent, covered with snow. The country became 
rolling, wild, inhabited only by white-faced cattle and a few ranchers whose 
houses were overshadowed by tall eucalyptus trees. We stopped for the 
night in the foot-hills among little blue oaks with tender new leaves. Early 
the next morning I walked out in a great pasture covered with filaree and 
small clovers, and while the eastern sky was aflame I watched western 
kingbirds chasing and darting at each other with loud cries and gorgeous 
Bullock’s orioles in the oaks. By a little stream I saw my first digger pines 
and found their enormous cones, 10 inches long and six inches in diameter. 
The Yosemite is far more magnificent than I had dreamed with its great 
snow-capped peaks, its marvellous waterfalls and its stately conifers. 
Steller’s jays were noisy and bold; rcbins sang splendidly night and mcrn- 
ing, Brewer’s blackbirds called from the trees and black-headed grosbeaks 
gave their fine songs. 
We explored the valley, but at this time only one of the high roads was 
open — that to the giant sequoias. We drove on the Wawana road to 
*Visitors should procure W. L. Jepson’s excellent pamphlet on “Trees, Shrubs 
and Flowers of the Redwood Region,” sold for 10 cents by Save-the-Redwoods 
League, 250 Administration Bldg., Univ. California, Berkeley 4, California. 
