Books

SHRIKES. Norbert Lefranc. 1997. Yale University Some species have bright rufous or sandy caps Press, New Haven, Connecticut. Hard cover, 192 and backs. A few, such as the Long-tailedShrike, pp. $35.00 U.S. have strikinggeographic plumage variations. Some shrikesare as small as House Sparrows. The recentflood of world-wideidentification guides for specific groups of birds, such as seabirds, In 35 pages of introductorymaterial, the author waterfowl and shorebirds, has now reached presents informationon: taxonomy,overviews of passerine groupings, and the treatment has the genera, and a brief guide to the features of the expanded to include life history information.This species accounts. The overview of the genus is a welcome addition, as many bird enthusiasts Laniuscovers: names; morphology,plumages and have expanded their interests, and wish to learn molts; origins, present distribution,migration 'and more about the birds they see. Many of these wintering areas; habitat; social organization and guides are being written in Europe and cover general behavior;food habits,larders and foraging groupswhich occur primarilyin the Old World. behavior; nests, eggs and breeding behavior; population dynamics; population changes and Shrikes covers the three genera of the family presumedcauses; and conservation.The othertwo Laniidae(true shrikes), including 31 specieswithin genera are coveredin singlepage overviews.Line Lanius, Coruinella and Eurocephalus. Twenty- drawings in the introduction supplerbent the color sevenof thesespecies are in the firstgenus, whose plates. name is the Latin word for butcher, perhaps referringto their habit of hangingprey on spines. Species accounts average three pages (range 1- 9), and include a clear range map (1/4 to 1 page), Scientistsbelieve that the family Laniidae evolved identification details, measurements, distribution in Australia as part of a great radiation that and status, molt, voice, habitat, habits, food, produced the corvids, a number of Australian breeding and references. Unfortunately,grouping families, and other groups. Bush-shrikes and the references at the end of each account makes helmet-shrikes,once consideredpart of Laniidae, further reading on specifictopics difficult. are now placed in a differentfamily. The present strongholdof the shrike family is in Africa, where This volume contains a wealth of details on shrikes 20 species breed and another four winter. and 12 pages of references. Since populationsof Expansionof the rangeto the New World probably some shrike species are declining for poorly occurred in relatively recent times. Only understoodreasons, a compilationof information LoggerheadShrike is restrictedto this hemisphere, on this family is very timely. Banders workingwith as Northern Shrike is considered part of the shrikes will want this useful book. circumpolarspecies, Great Grey Shrike. Robert C. Tweit The attractivecolor plates by Tim Worfolkprovide an average of nearly four full plumage images per species,with additionaltail and flightviews. They showthe strongsimilarities in appearanceamong shrikes. All species, except the entirely black Magpie Shrike, have a mask (usually black), hookedbill and a whitethroat. Frequent plumage featuresare: longtails, white underparts, gray cap and back, and black wings with white patches.

Jan. - Mar. 1998 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Page 13