806 Reviews [Auk, Vol. 118 ology beginning in the early 1920s(the "pioneer of Another of Stresemann'simportant contributions scientificornithology" of the title). If Stresemanndid in 1939 was part of his The Birdsof Celebesin which not accomplishanything else during his long career, he advocatedhis ideas of a "dynamic zoogeogra- his actionin pushingdevelopment of the New Avian phy" (pp. 213-219; 414-416). That was in reactionto Biologyis sufficientto insurehis positionas having excessiveland-bridge building by the biogeogra- the most profound influence on twentieth-century phersof the time and which was basedon changes world ornithology.Most interestingis that Strese- in the habitats over time and the differential dis- mann stayed strictly within ornithologyduring his persal abilitiesof different species.Although a few entire scientific career; he did not branch out into personsacknowledge credit to Stresemannfor these generalzoological or theoreticalbiological topics. ideas(e.g.E. Mayr, 1944,The Birds of Timorand Sum- The three authors have done an excellentjob in ba, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural His- presentingthe life and work of Erwin Stresemann, tory, 83:123-194),his conceptof dynamiczoogeog- with each of the major chaptersfull of interesting raphy is still insufficientlyunknown and deservesa facts and analyses, and extensive documentation. full analyticreview. This history is best read in conjunctionwith Haffer's The leading German Academy of Science,the Leo- 1997Ornithologen-Briefe des 20 Jahrhunderts(see, W. J. poldina, publishedthis book by Haffer and his col- Bock,1999, Auk, 116:861-863).Because those chap- leagueson the life and work of Erwin Stresemann, ters were written at different times and indepen- the leadingGerman ornithologist; hence the bulk of dently of one another,there is someduplication of the publicationis in German. That is unfortunatebe- material but that does not distract from the book. causemost of the world's ornithologistswill not be One of the little-known aspectsof Stresemann'slife able to appreciatein depth the importanceof Stre- was that, in 1934, he was offered a researchprofes- semannto the developmentof ornithologyduring sorshipat YaleUniversity through the effortsof Dr. the first half of the twentiethcentury, in spiteof the LeonardSanford, with the possibilityof headingup excellentEnglish summary by Jtirgen Haffer (pp. the PeabodyMuseum (pp. 42, 144). Stresemannvis- 399-427). It would be a great benefit to most orni- ited Yale during his trip to the United Statesfrom thologistsif someonewould undertakethe great task November 1935 to March 1936, but, feeling himself of translatingthis volume into English and repub- bound to Berlin and Germany,he declined the offer. lishingit, perhapsas a CD-ROM. There is little discussionof Stresemann'sother trips In summary, this authoritative history of the life and work of Erwin Stresemann is essential to all or- to North America: in 1958 he addressed the Ameri- nithologistsand sciencehistorians with the slightest can Ornithologists'Union on the statusof avian sys- interestin the historyof ornithology.Jtirgen Haffer, tematics(1959d) at its 75th anniversarymeeting in Erich Rutschke and Klaus Wunderlich are to be con- New York City, and in 1962 he attended the Inter- gratulatedfor their excellentand thoroughpresen- national Ornithological Congressin Ithaca, New tation;all ornithologistsand historiansof scienceare York to speakon the taxonomicvalue of wing molt. in their debt. The cost of this book is most reasonable During both trips, Erwin and his wife, VestaStrese- comparedto its contents,and I urge anyoneinter- mann, studied the molt of birds at the American Mu- ested in the history of ornithology to obtain this seumof Natural History (E. and V. Stresemann,1966). valuable addition to our science.--WALTERJ. BOCK, It was during thosevisits that most North American Departmentof BiologicalSciences, Columbia University, ornithologistswould have met Stresemann. 1200 Amsterdam Avenue,Mail Box 5521, New York, New Stresemann'sbest known publicationsare his Aves York, 10027-7004 USA. E-mail: [email protected] volumein the Handbuchder Zoologie 1927-1934 (only 536 were soldby 1934 and an additional 156by 1944, a total of only 692 of the original 2,200printed; the remaining two-thirds were tragically destroyedby fire toward the end of World War II, see.p. 248), and his Ornithology:From Aristotle to the Present(1975; original German edition, 1951). Both were discussed by Haffer (pp. 248-250, and 297-302). The Avesvol- TheAuk 118(3):806-808, 2001 ume was analyzedin connectionwith a long section on the developmentof the New Avian Biology(pp. Ecology and Conservation of Grassland Birds of 248-295). Haffer pointsout that Stresemann'shistory the Western Hemisphere--Edited by PeterD. Vick- of ornithologywas written during the difficultyears ery and JamesR. Herkert. 1999. Proceedingsof a followingWorld War II when his accessto the liter- Conference, Tulsa, Oklahoma, October 1995. Studies ature was restricted. That historical work concen- in Avian Biology No. 19. Cooper OrnithologicalSo- trated on avian systematicsand on Europeanwork- ciety,Camarillo, California.vii + 299 pp., numerous ers; hence there is still a great need for a thorough figures. ISBN 1-891276-08-5.Paper, $25.00;ISBN 1- treatmentof the historyof worldwideornithology. 891276-11-5.Cloth, $39.50.--Within the past 10-15 July 2001] Reviews 807 years, the widespread declines of grasslandbirds The introductory chapter on the conservationof throughout the Western Hemisphere have become grasslandbirds in the WesternHemisphere by Vick- well known. For example, Knopf (1994:251)states ery et al. was oneof the highlightsof the book.It out- that North American grasslandbirds have experi- lines and summarizes the locations (and terminolo- enced "steeper, more consistent,and more geo- gy) of the various grasslands of the Western graphically widespread declinesthan any other be- Hemisphereand containslists of the obligateand havioral or ecological guild." Similar population facultativegrassland birds of both North and South trends are reported for birds of South American A•nerica.Useful definitionsare also given for grass- grasslands.Those declines have generated a flurry of lands and grasslandbirds. Although one can quibble research,some of which is reported in this book. This with thesedefinitions (e.g. ! am not sure I would in- book, therefore,represents a timely contributionto clude sedge-dominated tundra with more "tradi- our knowledge of the ecology and conservationof tional" grasslands)and lists (jaegers, Stercorarius grasslandbirds. spp., as obligate grasslandbirds?), they are a valu- This book comprisesa seriesof 34 papers origi- able reference and an excellent starting point for nally presentedat a two-day conferenceheld in Tul- more specializedor restrictive lists. In addition, the sa, Oklahoma in October 1995, and loosely orga- chapter summarizeslikely causesof populationde- nized into four major sections (Introduction, clines,current and future threatsto grasslandbirds, Ecology,Breeding Ecology, and Latin America). The and conservationstrategies and future research BreedingEcology section is by far the largestand is needs. further organizedinto subsectionson habitatselec- The secondsection (Ecology) begins with a useful tion, fire, the ConservationReserve Program (CRP), summaryby Peterjohnand Sauerof currentpopula- management,and data collectionand analysis. Each tion statusof grasslandbirds in North America.They chapter can stand alone (e.g. each has its own liter- report trends basedon 30 years of BBSdata. Askins' ature cited sections,and abstractsin both English paper on history of easterngrassland birds is fasci- and Spanish).Most chaptersrepresent the resultsof natingand basedon impressivehistorical research, al- original research conducted by the 66 authors thoughone shouldbe forewarnedthat it is very sim- throughout the Western Hemisphere.The book is ilar to an early chapterin his recent book (Askins written and organized much like a typical scientific 2000). I also enjoyed the two papers by Rotenberry journal, and the target audienceis the scientificcom- and Knick and one by O'Connor et al. becausethey munity. As is true of most edited books of this na- remind us of potentialoverriding importance of land- ture, the chaptersare a somewhathaphazard and scape effects on bird-habitat associations,and that eclecticmixture of studies on topics ranging from those effects are not restricted to forest birds. nocturnalmigration calls and thermalaspects of nest The BreedingEcology section also had severalin- sites, to summariesof continentalpopulation trends terestingchapters. For example,the chapterby Bock from the BreedingBird Survey(BBS). This resultsin et al. on grasslandbirds at a suburbanedge contains some important subjectsbeing largely ignored (e.g. one of the best demonstrations to date of reduced virtually none of the studies looked at hayfields-- densitiesof grasslandbirds near certain types of currently a major habitat type for grasslandbirds in habitat edges. The five-year study by Herkert and North America--or at the effectsof mowing) and Glasson fire effectson Henslow'sSparrow (Ammo- othersubjects covered in somedetail (e.g.five papers dramushenslowii) should be very valuable to man- on the effectsof fire). As is also frequentlytrue of agersinterested in this enigmaticgrassland bird, as most of these collections, the reader is left with the should Winter's paper on Baird's Sparrow (Ammo- impressionthat the truly good stuff from many of dramusbairdii). Igl and Johnson'scontribution (on Le these studies will likely be published elsewherein Conte's Sparrow, Ammodramusleconteii and CRP more prestigious outlets. Despite those limitations, fields) showsus that climate variation may lead to the chapterstypically are based on interestingand dramatic annual fluctuationsin grasslandbird abun- solid science.The book is extremely well edited and dance whereas Koford provides an important as- is virtually error-free. The figures are uniformly of sessmentof the valueof CRP grasslandsin North Da- high quality. The only minor exceptionsare the pop~ kota and Minnesota.Also in this sectionwas Temple ulation-trendmaps found in the chapterby Peterjohn et al.'s treatment of effects of grazing on nesting and Sauer (two of the three trend classesare hard to birds in Midwesternpastures. Their "probird" graz- distinguish).Although the inclusionof a large num- ing managementsystem provides concrete manage- ber of maps no doubt necessitatedtheir small size, ment guidelinesthat may benefit the especiallyvul- distinguishingthe categorieswas difficult. Also, the nerablegrassland bird populationsof the Midwest. coverphotograph of GreaterRheas (Rhea americana) Finally, I thought the three papers in the Data Col- seemsinappropriate given that none of the papers lection and Analysis subsection were especially dealt with that species.However, each of the four noteworthy. ! was intrigued by Evans and Mellin- major sectionscontained noteworthy chapters, some ger's paper suggestingthat the measurementof vo- of which I will discuss below. calizationsproduced by night-migratingbirds has 808 Reviews [Auk, Vol. 118 potential as a monitoring tool. Petersonand Best at the Academy of Natural Sciencesin Philadelphia provideimportant warnings regarding the interpre- and continuesthrough that institution and the Car- tation of perturbation experiments(including the negie Museum in Pittsburgh.Hawk Mountain Sanc- need for controls,pretreatment data, and long-term tuary rides the backbone of the state'sKittatinny posttreatment monitoring). Further, Rotella et al. Ridge,inspiring raptor research,education, and con- discussthe importance of estimating detectability servationaround the world. Pennsylvaniarecently (through estimatingdistances in which birds can be becamethe first stateto list its important Bird Areas. detected) in avian censuses. Yet, in spite of Pennsylvania'ssignificant contribu- The last section,entitled simply Latin America, tion to ornithology,there were no statewidebird ref- presentssome much needed information on the ecol- erences until the last decade. Amazingly, Mc- ogy and conservationof grasslandbirds southof the Williams and Brauning's book is the first United States.Papers by Cavalcanti(on the Cerrado comprehensivebook about the state'sbirds since regionof Brazil), Tubaro and Gabelli (on the Pampas Warrens'Birds of Pennsylvaniapublished in 1890. Meadowlark, $turnella defilippii),and da Silva (on McWilliams and Brauning'sbook is a successorto seedeatersof the genus Sporophila),among others, Earl Poole'sunpublished manuscript (circa 1960) and should help exposeNorth American readersto the benefitsfrom the many detailed observationsmade fact that grassland-birdproblems are not limited to in W. E. C. Todd's magnificentBirds of WesternPenn- our continent.Basili and Temple (through two pa- sylvania(1940). Brief worksby E. L. Poole(1964) and pers in this section)also highlight the fact that pop- M. Wood (1979) gaveonly cursoryspecies accounts, ulation declines of one North American grassland but did providemileposts on bird rangesfrom which breeder, the Dickcissel($piza americana)may result to comparethose described in the presentbook. from human-causedmortality on their Venezuelan Although Pennsylvaniahas a reputationas an ur- wintering grounds.However, that section,in partic- ban center,most of the stateis rural. Approximately ular, would have benefited from more contributions 59% of its area is coveredwith diverseforest types. related to grasslandbirds spanningthe Americas. Indeed, Pennsylvaniais a strongholdfor many east- In conclusion, this book has much to offer avian ern forest birds. A large percentageof the world's ecologists,especially those interestedin grassland Scarlet Tanagers (Piranga olivacea),Worm-eating ecosystems.It is well worth its relativelymodest cost Warblers (Helmintheros vermivorus), and Wood and should be included in all university libraries.- Thrushes(Hylocichla mustelina) live here (Rosenberg ERICK. BOLLINGER,Department of BiologicalSciences, and Wells 1996). With its large forest cover and ge- EasternIllinois University,Charleston, Illinois 61920 ography,Pennsylvania has high responsibilityfor USA. [email protected] the conservationof severalof the WatchList species such as Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivorachysop- LITERATURE CITED tera), Cerulean Warbler (Dendroicacerulea), Louisiana Waterthrush($eiurus motacilla), and the speciesal- ASKINS,R. A. 2000. RestoringNorth America'sBirds: ready named. The western reclaimed strip mines Lessonsfrom LandscapeEcology. Yale Univer- may support the largest Henslow's Sparrow (Am- sity Press,New Haven, Connecticut. modramushenslowii) populations in the Northeast. KNOPF,E L. 1994. Avian assemblageson altered The state'sline of ridgesprovide a majorhighway for grasslands.Studies in Avian Biology 15:247- diurnal raptors, whereasits woods and thicketsare 257. vital stopping points for many migrating songbirds. Becausethis book coversthe relationshipsof many bird speciesto Pennsylvania'sphysical features, it is not only valuablefor academicand recreationaluses, but pertinent and timely for bird conservation. After a forward by Pennsylvanianative, Kenn Kauffman, and a prefacethat puts this publicationin its historicalcontext, the authorspresent a thorough The Auk 118(3):808-810, 2001 and insightfulreview of "HistoricalPerspectives on Bird Populationsand Habitats"in the Introduction. The Birds of Pennsylvania--Gerald M. Mc- This 24-page review is a must-read for anyoneinter- Williamsand Daniel W. Brauning.2000. Cornell Uni- estedin the state'sornithology. It puts into perspec- versityPress, xiv + 479 pp., 67 black-and-whitepho- tive modern bird populations in light of what we tographs, 44 maps, ISBN 0-8014-3643-5. Cloth, know of the state'shistory, geography, and ecology. $39.95.--Pennsylvania, the home of Wilson, Audu- The Introductionalso guidesthe reader throughthe bon, and Bartram in the historic era, and Todd, Sut- seasonal changes of bird distribution and move- ton, Parkes, Gill, and Parker in more modern times, mentsas well as the state'sgeographical and ecolog- has been a keystonestate to American ornithology. ical units. Convenient maps show physiographic The study of Americanbirds was practicallyfounded provinces, counties, popular birding spots, and