COLLINS BIRD GUIDE. By Lars Svensson and. Peter Grant. 1999. Illustrated by
Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrom. Harper Collins, London, and. Princeton ...
British Trust for Ornithol., The Natl. Cent. for
monitored. On the other hand, 1997 saw increases
Ornithol., The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU, U.K. (Numbers of adult birds caught at over
in numbersof youngof mostspeciescaptured,with Great Tits and Bullfinchesattainingrecordhighs.)
120 "Constant
MKM
Effort Sites" in Britain and Ireland
duringthe 1997 breeding season were the lowest since monitoringbegan in 1983. A comparison between
1996
and
1997
at 82
sites
MKM =Martin
K. McNicholl
indicated
declines in adults of all but two of 24 species
Note: Thanks to Kay Loughmanfor copies of the two Sciencenotes abstractedin this compilation.
Books COLLINS BIRD GUIDE. By Lars Svenssonand Peter Grant. 1999. Illustratedby KillianMullarney and Dan Zetterstrom.HarperCollins,London,and PrincetonUniversityPress, Princeton,NJ. 392 pp. 24.95 poundsSterling. THE
COMPLETE
GUIDE
TO
THE
BIRDS
OF
EUROPE. Authors, illustratorsand publishersas above. 392 pp. 29.95 poundsSterling.
Over the last50 years there have been published numerousfieldguidesto the birdsof Britainand the rest of Europe. For such an over-serviced geographicalarea, one might reasonably ask, "whywouldanybodybotherto write (and illustrate) yet anotherone?"This questionis answeredvery effectivelyby Svenssonet aL:becauseyou can do •t so much better than anybody else. Bird books, hke everything else, tend to be good, bad, or •ndifferent. The "Collins guide" is none of the above. Simply, it is superb. We are in fact lookingat two separate editionsof one work;the original"birdguide,"8 x 5.5 in (20.3 x 14 cm), weighingabout one pound 10 ounces (about 737 g), and the coffee table "birds of Europe,"12.5 x 9 in (31.8 x 22.9 cm) and almost
threetimesas heavy.Basically,theseare identical except that the bigger format of the "birds of Europe" allows for the illustrations to be much largerand consequentlymore clear.
guideto the birdsof Britainand Europe,"published almosthalfa centuryago. This is extremelyuseful, not merely because countrieslike Morocco,Israel, and Turkey are visited frequently now by birdwatchers, but also because many of the breeding species of these peripheral regions show up in western Europe as vagrants. The
meat
of the
as east to the Urals and south to the Caucasus.
As
a result,many more speciesare includedthan in, for example, the classical Peterson et al. "Field
Oct.-Dec. 2002
start with a useful
introductionwhich in addition to explainingthe layoutand conventionsof the text, has informative sectionson plumagesand the effectsof viewing conditionson observation.Thiscouldwithprofitbe read by all bird-watchersin Europe or elsewhere. The bulkof the booksconsistof individualspecies' accountsand accompanyingillustrations,and it is here that the true worthof the workemerges. Eachaccountof a familyor groupof birdsstartsoff with some general comments,givingbackground informationand the typicalcharacteristics of the familyor genus;in some cases detailedand useful (I consistentlyrepeat the word "useful"in this review,but it is alwaysthe mostappropriateword) analyses of genera or groups with emphasis on featureswhich aid field identification,are given. The books use the "side-by-side"format;that is, the illustrationsand the text for each species sit adjacentto each other, rather than the system used in the early Petersonguides in which all the specieswere illustratedon one page and one had to search elsewhere
Notwithstandingthe titles, the books cover more than Europe, since all of northern Africa, the Levant,and Turkeyare included;Europeisdefined
books
for the text. The illustrations
are, in a word, magnificent,enormouslydetailed (e.g., there are no fewer than 15 separateflight pictures of Honey Buzzard, showing all the variations of color phases, ages, and flight attitudes)and very accurate.Despitehavingtwo artists,a remarkableuniformityof style has been
NorthAmerican BirdBander
Page137
achieved,exceptfor two plates of North American vagrants by a third artist whose style is less precise. Several features make the illustrations especially useful. In many cases a figure for confusingsimilarspecies is added to a plate for comparison.Buildingon Peterson'stechniqueof pointingout identification criteriawith arrows,the authorshavegoneone stepfurtherby addingshort notes to the arrows to explain the precise identification feature
Nevertheless, given the glorious nature of both versions of this book, criticism seems churlish.
Shouldyou buy one or the other?Absolutelyyes. If you are intendingto visit Europe, get the "bird guide;"if not, the "birdsof Europe;"or, betterstill, indulgeyourselfand get both.Youwon'tbegrudge the money. A. David
to be looked for. Since the
authors and artists themselves are recognized
Brewer R.R. 1
Puslinch, ON NOB 2J0
widely in the European birding communityas leading-edgeexponentsof the finer pointsof field identification,often the features emphasized are not found in other guides, such as the primary extensions in different related species of warbler. One aesthetically pleasing feature of the dlustrationsis the occasionaluse of backgroundof suchthingsas typicalhabits,always unobtrusively so as not to take away from the main point of the plate. I especiallyliked the littlevignetteof Ivory Gullsdescendingon to a devastatedseal carcass as in the backgrounda well-fed Polar Bear wanders off for a snooze, and the tower of Seville
Cathedralas a backgroundfor Lesser Kestrels. Is it possible to criticize these books? Yes, obviously,since nothingis perfect. The English nomenclature
is a little weird. Great Northern Loon
is an uneasyhybridof Britishand NorthAmerican
usage,andI hadtoadmitthatI hadnevbrheardof Pallas's Gull until I realized that it was Great Black-
headed Gull.The one area that couldbe improved greatlyisthe rangemaps. In the "birdguide,"these are of necessitysmalland rather difficultto see in detail. In the "birds of Europe," they are simply reprintedinthe same size, despite havingplentyof adjacentemptyspace. Furthermore,all the maps coverthe entiregeographicalarea. This is fine for speciesof wide distribution,but if we take a species like Ruppell'sWarbler, breeding only around the Aegean,is thereany pointin also includingIceland on the map?There are cheap charterflightsfrom London to the island of Rhodes; if I take a week's package holiday to Rhodes, am I likely to see Ruppell'sWarbler?Evenwitha magnifyingglass,I can not tell. For such restricted species, more detailed maps of their actual ranges would be
EARLY SOUTHWEST ORNITHOLOGISTS, 15281900. By Dan L. Fischer. 2001. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. xxii + 273 pp. $45.00 In this well-researched volume, Dan L. Fischer
presents a fascinating history of ornithological explorationof the southwestern U.S.A. and to a lesserextentadjacent portionsof northernMexico. Although the title reflects both the focal era and focal area covered by the narrative, much of the text encompassesbroader areas and more recent times,as manyof the naturalistsand ornithologists discussedlived to well into the twentieth century and came from other parts of North America or Europe.The book starts with ornithologicalnotes recorded by a few early explorers and continues throughseven chapters on ornithologicalactivities conducted during various stages of European settlement, exploration,and militaryendeavorsin the region.Much of the narrativeconsistsof minibiographies of more than 100 contributorsto "southwestern"ornithology, ranging from those who collectedone or more species new to science on brief visits to others who resided for longer periods in one or more location(s)and reported extensivelyon the avifauna of particularareas or habitats and/or on the behavior and life histories of
species little known previously.A useful appendix lists the first known observers
and collectors
of
numerous species under their current names as well as the originaldescriberof the species,when it was described, and earlier names used for the species in the southwesternU.S.
much more informative.
On the whole, I found the book both informative
and interesting, although the text occasionally Page 138
North American
Bird Bander
Vol. 27 No.4
strayson to tangentsfairlyfar removedfrom the main topic under discussion.A few details are repeatedseveral times as they relate to various explorers,most notablythe discoveryand partial descriptionof White-throatedSwifts at a specific location (El Morrow) in California by different explorersand the ensuing confusion/controversy over who shouldbe given credit for its discovery. The referencelist is reasonablythoroughand will give readersinterestedin pursuingfurther details plenty of material to explore. However, a few omissions
are unfortunate
and the list is not as
extensivea bibliographyas indicatedon the book jacket. For example, the two biographiesand one tribute cited for Major Allan Brooks (spelled correctlyinthe maintext, butincorrectlyas Allenon p. xiii)are all interestingand informative,but notas thoroughas a full-lengthbook written about him and his work (Laing 1979). More importantly,no biographyis citedfor Henry P. Artwater,who lived in Texas during part of the period, although Oberholser(1932) publishedone shortlyafter his death and Casto (1983) discussedhis influenceon early conservationeffortsin that state. Biographical referencesare also lackingfor the contributions of Frank B. Armstrong, H. B. Butcher, George Henry Ragsdale,and George B. Sennerr,although Casto (1980, 1981, 1994, 2000) has written more detailed accounts on the efforts of these men and
several other early contributors to Texas ornithology additional to those mentioned by Fischer.Referenceto Casto's (1997) paper on the birds collected by Heermann in the San Antonio area would also have added to the paragraph on that explorer'sfinal home. Readers wishingmore detailsof the early visitby Thomas Nuttalland J. K.
In short, Fischer has providedan interesting,lively account of ornithologicalendeavors of numerous explorers,militarynaturalists,and early settlersin a major portion of North America. It provides an importantcontributionto our understandingof the historyof ornithologyon this continent. LITERATURE
CITED
Casto, S.D.1980. George Henry Ragdale:the Gainsville naturalist. Bull. Texas OrnithoL Soc. 13:30-36.
Casto,S.D.1981. CollectingwithSennerrinTexas. Bull Texas OrnithoL Soc. 14:2-9.
Casto, S.D.1983.The market huntingof Texas birds. Bull. Texas Ornithol Soc. 16:2-15.
Casto, S.D. 1994. The ornithologicalcollectionsof Frank B. Armstrong.Bull. Texas OrnithoL Soc. 27:8-18.
Casto, S.D.1997.The
birds collected at San
Antonioby A.L. Heermann. Bull Texas OrnithoL Soc. 30:2-10.
Casto, SD. 2000. H.B. Butcher and the birds of Laredo. Bull. Texas OrnithoL Soc. 33:3235.
Jobanek, G.A. and D.B. Marshall. 1992. John K.
Townsend's1836 reportof the birdsof the lowerColumbiaRiver region,Oregonand Washington.Northwest.Nat. 73:1-14. Laing, H.M. 1979. Allan Brooks:artist naturalist. B.C. Prov. Mus. Spec. Publ. No. 3. Oberholser,H.C. 1932. Henry PhilemonAttwater.
Townsend to the northwestern U.S. than offered in
Auk 49:144-145. Martin
K. McNicholl
4735 Canada Way Burnaby, B.C. V5G 1 L3
the briefmentionon pages 19-20 wouldalso have benefitted from a reference to the account by
JobanekandMarshall(1992). Sinceorganizedbandinghad notbegunby the end of the era covered by most of the book, its main directinterestto banders is in its early descriptions of someof the speciesthey bandand the appendix listing the first descriptions of many species. However,the author(p. 201) does mentionthe role of "birdnettingand banding"in reducingthe need to "secure"specimensto identifybirds,and NABB readerswill be pleasedto note several prominent bandersin Fischer'slist of acknowledgments. Oct,-Dec. 2002
North American Bird Bander
TurkeyVulture by George West
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