BOOK REVIEWS

Wrens, Dippers and Thrashers, by David Brewer,illustrated by Barry MacKay. 2001. Yale UniversityPress, New Haven and London.272 pages,32 colorplates, numerousmaps. Hardback, $50.00. ISBN0-300-09059-5. At that infamous(and apocryphal) meeting in someunnamed British pub a couple of decadesback, when the bird familieswere being divviedup for a seriesof "identificationguides" that wouldchange the birdingworld as we knewit, somebody wanderedin late and got a hodgepodgeof little gray and brown birdsas his assignment.Without any clear ecologicalor phylogeneticties bindingthe three familiesthat are the subjectof this book, the treatmenthere smacksof this sort of historicalaccident. Nevertheless, there are few birdfamilies more interesting than the unique,albeit species-poor, dippers (Cinclidae, the mostaquatic of the passedfies),the sociallyand vocallyfascinating wrens (Troglodytidae), and the marvelous,mimicking Mimidae. A happier approachto this book, and this review,therefore, is that we're grantedthe bonusof three familyaccounts rolled into one book. Originallypublished in Britainby ChristopherHelm, the bookcovers 83 speciesof wrens, five dippers, and 36 mockingbirdsand thrashers.Also includedis the enigmatic"mockingthrush" Donacobius, historically viewed as a mimid or wren, but perhaps(according to unpublisheddated cited here) closer to the Old Worldwarblers and babblers.This is essentiallya guideto New World birds, as only three of the species(a wren and two dippers)breed in the Old World. An introductorytext of 13 pages includesfour pages explainingthe species accounts,five on classification,relationships, and biogeography(with two full-page mapsof speciesrichness for wrensand mimids),a pageand a half on conservation issues,and a standardpage on bird topography.Some taxonomic treatments differ from thoseof the A.O.U.; the "Brown-throatedWren" (Troglodytesbrunneicollis), for example,is splitfrom HouseWren (T. aedon)on the basisof an isozymestudy by Brumfieldand Capparella. Traditionalgeneric relationshipsof wrens appear to requirerevision, according to unpublishedwork by F. K. Barker citedin the book. The speciesaccounts, introduced by brief but helpfulaccounts of genericcharac- ters,are generallyfairly thorough, allowing that manyspecies are poorlyknown. Text sectionscover alternative names, identification, description, geographical variation, voice, habitat,habits, status and distribution,breeding, movements, measurements (from publishedsources or specimenmeasurements by the author),and references. Well-knownor highlyvariable species (e.g., the Marshand Winter Wrens)get two to fourpages of text treatment,but sometropical or insularwrens get lessthan a page. Identificationinformation is sometimessketchy. For Baja California'sendemic Grey (in American English,Gray) Thrasher the identificationsection assures the readerthat the only sympatdfcthrashers are Le Conte'sand Sage, ignoringoverlap with CaliforniaThrasher and vagrancy of the similarBendire's Thrasher. Little useful informationon separatingBrown-throated and NorthernHouse Wrens is provided, and readersare not warnedof the considerablereported introgression that compli- catesfield identification at the northernend of the formertaxoh'S range. Behaviors usefulin field identificationare not alwaysmentioned. For example,the highly distinctivebobbing behavior of the Rockand CanyonWrens is omitted.Oddly, there is no mentionof the wing-flashingdisplay in the NorthernMockingbird account, yet this behavioris impliedfor the Northernin the accountsof someother speciesof

All recognizedsubspecies are brieflydescribed, along with rangesummaries; many are illustrated.Subspecies treatments are not alwaysthorough or accurate.The CaliforniaThrasher's northern subspecies sonomae is describedin the text andplate legendas differing from the nominatesubspecies in havinga "palechest band," which is a featurenot mentionedin Grinnell'soriginal description or ever shown,to my

WesternBirds 34:49-52, 2003 49 BOOK REVIEWS knowledge,by the birdsthemselves. There is no mentionof the strikingdifferences in call notes of Pacific and boreal/eastern Winter Wrens within North America. The range maps are generallyuseful; the base maps show riversand national boundaries,as well as stateboundaries for Mexicoand the USA. One can quibble about the accuracyof some maps. For example, desertand coastalCactus Wren populationsin Californiaare far too separated,the MarshWren's breeding range in Californiais too restricted,and much of GreatBasin range of Bewick'sWren is not mapped.Maps of bandrecoveries for a few migratoryspecies, e.g., the "Eurasian" Dipperand Brown Thrasher, are informative. Distribution discussions generally gloss over or ignorevagrancy; there is no mention,for example,of the occurrenceof the BrownThrasher or Gray Catbirdin California(both occur annually), yet California's record of the Blue Mockingbird(not accepted becauseof doubts about natural occurrence)is mentioned.The text seemsto be well edited;one minor lapseI noted wasthe useof "Rufous"Thrasher for BrownThrasher in the introductionto the genus Toxostoma on p. 229. Sincethese "identificationguides" are probablyused more for easyaccess to informationon distributionand biology(both comparative and for individualtaxa) than for identification,it is perhapsnot fair to dwelltoo muchon the artwork.Yet such booksare ultimatelyjudged, in largemeasure, by the successof the illustrations.The plates in Wrens, Dippers and Thrashers have a number of weaknesses,from organizationand figure selection to shapes,postures, and colors; many plates fall well short of the standardsexpected of the identificationguide genre. For starters,a maddeninglack of concordancebetween the positionof the facing-pagelegends and the positionsof the figureson the platescontinues a problemthat hasplagued many of thesefamily guides. There seems to be litfielogic to the platelayouts; positions and posturesof individualbirds are all different,hampering comparison. I can't help but wonderwhy the two BahamaMockingbirds are depictedstanding in water; if this is typicalbehavior, seemingly odd for a mimid, it is not explainedin the text. Similarsympatric species sometimes are not evenon sameplate; for example,the SinaloaWren istwo platesremoved from the HappyWren, though the bizarreposture of the only figureof the former (with its headtucked in and bill hidden)makes its depictionclose to uselessanyway. Often, sex and age classesare mixedamong subspecies,making it hardto distinguishsubspecies characters from age/sex features. For example,in the Thrush-likeWren on plate3, the unspottedfigure of unicoloris of a female,whereas the spottedfigures of the nominatebird and hypostictusare of males,falsely suggesting at firstglance that the speciesis highlydimorphic sexually. Manyfigures are anatomicallychallenged, especially the wingsof certainthrashers (e.g., CozumelThrasher, plate 28), and the bill shapeand bill/skullrelationship in somethrashers and wrens (e.g., some species of Campylorhynchuson plate4). In my copysome plates are far too gray,rendering the Curve-billedand Bendire's Thrashers on plate 29 virtuallyunrecognizable. In summary,this "familyguide" has a bit of an odd phylogeneticpremise to go alongwith an erraticexecution. Collectors of thissort of bookwill undoubtedlywant to obtainit sincethe text bringstogether considerable published and someunpub- lishedinformation; the plates,though somewhat flawed, provide a goodoverview of a fascinatingcollection of species.However, a more thoroughand betterillustrated monographfor each of thesethree familiesmust still be awaited. Kimball L. Garrett

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