276 Reviews [Auk, Vol. 117 as 11 to 14 dayson page 62, yet 11 to 13 dayson page thusiasm for others to have similar personal 55. Publishedstudies actually document an incuba- experiences.Finally, although the artificialdiet re- tion period of 12 to 13 days or 12 to 14 days, de- ferred to by the authorthat was usedin the 1960s pending on geographiclocation. The penultimate probablyworked perfectly well, a morerecently de- sectionof this chapteraddresses care of youngand veloped banana-soy-protein-fruitdiet ("banana makesfor a delightfulcombination of scientificfacts, mash") has becomea standardfor feedingrobins fascinatingtidbits, and well-written prose.I enjoyed duringbehavioral observations in captivity. learningthings like "by the last day in the nest,a The final chapter(Chapter 10) provideshighlights youngrobin may eat 14 feetof earthworms"and that from the bookwith a one-pagesummary of the rob- severalother bird specieshave been documented in's characteristicfeatures, adaptability, and famil- feedingyoung robins, both in and out of the nest! iarity thatmake it North America'smost widespread, The final sectionin Chapter 7 on "associates"has visible,and belovedsongbird. As such,it is a fitting limited usefulness,in my opinion, and is an unnec- close to a fascinatingbook. Followingthe closing essary inclusion in what is already a relatively chapteris a bibliographythat allows the readerto lengthychapter. follow up on referencesto previousworks that are Chapter8 describesenemies and threatsof robins made throughoutthe book. Althoughmany of the andis packedwith detailedinformation. The chapter referencesin the text are made only casually(often, contains seven sections: predators, competitors, only namesare provided,but not dates),the reader brood parasites,overindulgence, weather, diseases, should have little trouble identifying the corre- and human-causeddeaths. The sectionon predators spondingcitation in the bibliography.Finally, the is a good one,despite going off on a tangentabout a colorphotographs throughout the book are excellent "Dear Abby" columnconcerning house cat repro- and enhanceits appearanceand readabilityconsid- duction.The •ectionson competitorsand brood par- erably.This book belongs in all universityand com- asites are succinct and solid contributions to the munity libraries,as well in the personalcollections chapter.The sectionon overindulgencecaptures the of ornithologistsinterested in learningmore about well-known observation of drunken robins that have the basicnatural history of the AmericanRobin.- ingestedtoo muchoverripe (fermenting) fruit. The REx SALLABANKS,Sustainable Ecosystems Institute, 30 section on threats from weather includes an inter- East Franklin Road, Suite 50, Meridian, Idaho 83642, estingexample of mortality from a tornado,as well USA. as a well-chosenquote from Leopold's(1966) "A SandCounty Almanac." Robin deathsfrom disease are difficult to detect. As a result, the next section on diseasesconsiders songbirds in general,but never- thelessis an excellentsummary of availableinfor- mation.The useof citedliterature is especiallygood in this section.Wauer begins the final sectionof this The Auk 117(1):276-277, 2000 chapter,on human-causeddeaths, by remindingus that suchdeaths are not only senseless,they are also illegal. This sectionis also enjoyablereading as it A Guide to the Birds and Mammals of Coastal Pa- movesfrom a historicalperspective to an elaborate tagonia.--Graham Harris. 1998. PrincetonUniver- discussionof the more recentdevastating effects of sity Press,Princeton, New Jersey.xviii + 231 pp., 33 DDT. It was the robin that becamethe symbolof the colorplates, 30 figures,251 distributionmaps. ISBN fight to stopthe useof this deadlychemical, and the 0-691-05831-8.Cloth, $65.00.--This interesting book link betweenearthworm immunity to DDT and rob- is a hybrid in severalways. Its hard coverand size in deaths is well made. render it rather awkward as a field guide,but it is a The authornears the end of the book (Chapter9) nice addition to a personalbookshelf. Its scopeen- with severalsuggestions on how to invite robinsto compassingbirds and mammalsrenders it "half in- your home.After readingabout the naturalhistory teresting"to pure ornithologistsor to pure mam- of the robin, I think this is a wonderfulattempt to malogists.Contents include descriptions, status, and involve the lay audiencein providingfood, water, rangesof terrestrialand marinebirds and mammals, and nestingplatforms for this speciesin their own all elements useful for bird watchers and whale backyards.The American Robin is not my "spark watchers.The book provides insightful comments on bird" (havinggrown up with the EuropeanRobin in habitat and behavior, areas of much interest to ecol- my backyard),but building a nest box as a young ogists.Its concentrationon the coastalstrip of Pata- child and watchinga pair of birds (in my case,Eur- gonia providesa detailed picture of that specific asian Kestrels [Falcotinnunculus]) use it to success- meetingof seaand land but consequentlyfails at set- fully raisebrood after brood had a significantinflu- ting a properbiogeographic context. In addition,its enceon my choiceof career.The author'searly en- small print throughoutis an insult to the tired eyes counterswith robinsclearly show through in his en- of bird watchersand reviewers alike. Although I read January2000] Reviews 277 the entirebook, I will commentonly on the part spe- havea yellow bill, but in the drawingthe bill is pink. cific to birds. Similarly, we are told that the Silver Teal (Anasver- The presentationof birds follows that of Meyer de sicolor)has a black beak with an orangebase, but in Schauensee,with some updates in nomenclature the drawingthe baseis yellow.Only the male Green- (and a few misspellings).Each species account con- backedFirecrown (Sephanoides sephanoides) is shown, tains a serviceabledescription, a welcomesection on and not the crown-dimorphicfemale. And only the typical behaviors(illustrated when deemedneces- male Fork-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannussavana) is sary), a useful summary of abundanceand resident shown. What does the female look like? We are also status,a depictionof the distributionalrange (com- told thatthe male Ringed Kingfisher (Ceryle torquata) plementedby rather small maps), and sometimesa has a rufousbreast and belly and that the femalehas note aboutcues that enableone to distinguishsome a gray breast,but in the plate the breastcolor is red. speciesfrom other very similar ones.Each account The White-crestedTyrannulet (Serpophaga subcrista- has a referralto a colorplate, with rathercompetent ta) is said to be pale gray below but is depicted as drawing and coloring. bright yellow. The captionsfor Black-chinnedSiskin First, there are very few typographicalerrors. An (Carduelisbarbata) and for GrasslandYellow-finch (Si- embarrassingone is the misspellingof wing "con- calisluteola) seem to be transposedwith respectto verts" (coverts)in the plate for Wilson'sStorm-Petrel the drawings,at least for the males. In a different (Oceanitesoceanicus). The Descriptionsection of each vein, a coupleof platesare soovercrowded with spe- speciesaccount is helpful and easy to understand. ciesthat it is difficult to figure out the birds' mark- Providingmeasurements of birds in both inchesand ings (particularly plate 11, and to someextent, plate centimeterswas a very good idea. There are a few 17). inconsistencieswhen judging size, such as when two The bookends with an Appendixof accidentalrec- birds are of the same size but one is labeled "small" ords and sightings,and anotherwith recommended and the other "very small." The Behaviorsection is reading,the last of whichI found mostwanting and a treasurechest of keennatural history observations. very idiosyncraticin the number and type of refer- I found it useful not only for the basicinformation encescited. A Glossaryof termsfollows, which I also provided,but alsoin the complementarydescription think shouldhave been more thoroughlychosen. A of somepeculiar habits of eachbird. The Statusand Bibliographycomes next, which I found to be defi- Habitat section is informative but with a few mis- cient and very biased. Without any headers, 251 leading exceptions,such as the statementthat the maps follow, packed at six per page, describingin BarnOwl (Tytoalba) "needs trees for perching."The dark and light gray the rangesof the speciesdis- Rangesection is generallyaccurate, except for some cussedin the main text. Unfortunately,one has to go speciessuch as the CrestedCaracara (Caracara plan- backto page6 to find the key for the dark and light cus),which is depicted as ranging into the south- shading(breeding and nonbreedingrange, respec- western United States without mention of the south- tively). I takeissue with someof the rangesreported, easternUnited States.The Similar Speciessection is particularlywith thoseof Circusbuffoni, Thripophaga useful but sparse,thus giving the impressionthat rnodesta,and Agelaiusthilius on the westernedges of thereshould not be muchfear of confusingbird spe- their ranges.Finally, a serviceableindex presents En- ciesin coastalPatagonia. glish,Latin, and Spanishorder and speciesnames of I have somepraises and complaintswith respect birds. to the colorplates. I like very muchthe idea of pre- I am somewhatpuzzled as to the intendedread- sentingseveral positions of the bird in focus(e.g. in ership for this book. It is midway between a field flight, standing)and showing,of course,any differ- guide and an annotatedaccount of birds and mam- ences between males and females, adults and sub- mals of a non-biogeographicalregion. Having per- adults,as well asdifferent color morphs if theyexist. sonallong-term interests on everythingthat has to On the negative side, Darwin's Tinamou (Nothura do with Patagonia,I will stockthis book with others darwinii) and Elegant Crested-Tinamou (Eudromia dealingwith that region.However, I am reluctantto elegans)are both said to havevery shortlegs, but the recommendit as a pocketfield guide to the birds of drawingsshow a noticeablylonger-legged aspect for coastalPatagonia. It won't fit in any pocket, but it the latter.No mentionis madeof the factthat theonly may providea wonderfulfilling-in of detailsback in Podilymbusspecies in the areadiffers from the rather your tent or guestroom onceyou know what birds similar Podicepsspecies by the former having black you have seen.If you are intent on knowing Pata- eyesand latter red ones.The sameapplies to the dif- goniaand its critters,I think this is a goodbook for ference between red-eyed adult Black-crowned a personallibrary. If you are a great fan of Patagonia Night-Herons (Nycticoraxnycticorax) and yellow- for travelingor researching,I recommendthat you eyedjuveniles, and to red-eyedmale Rosy-billedPo- purchase it.--FABIAN M. JAKSI•, Departamentode chards(Netta peposaca) and black-eyedfemales. The Ecologia,Universidad CatSlica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Wandering Albatross (Diomedeaexulans) is said to Santiago,CP 6513677, Chile.