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Reviews tions and conservation. A longer THE SIBLEY GUIDE section (440 pages) treats the fami- TO BIRD LIFE AND lies of birds which occur in North BEHAVIOUR: America. Each family has headings A COMPANION TO such as taxonomy, food and for- THE NORTH AMERICAN aging, breeding, movements, con- BIRD GUIDE servation and accidental species. Illustrated by David Sibley. Extra topics are introduced if there Edited by Chris Elphick, John is something interesting to say. A B. Dunning Jr & David Sibley. box describes average traits of the Christopher Helm, A & C family. Black, London, 2001. 587 This is an attractive introduc- pages. ISBN 0-7136-6250-6. tion to the life of birds, pitched at Hardback, £35.00. the student or enthusiast. There are other books on general bird biology and on the variety of the David Sibley is widely known as world’s birds, but there are few the author and illustrator of the with this book’s mixture. The style superb The North American Bird is simple and readable. There are of the species and stories are Amer- Guide. Like most field guides, this no references, even where deriva- ican. On the other hand, the fami- tells you how to identify birds and tion from a single study or publica- lies covered include more than half roughly where to find them by tion is obvious. David Sibley’s of all bird families and have a very range and habitat, but little about artwork is beautiful, and there are high overlap with those which are their biology. Although subtitled as colour sketches on most pages. You represented in Europe. Bird a companion to the field guide, The could read from cover to cover, biology is, of course, universal, Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behav- though I imagine that most people although favoured subjects vary. It iour is really a separate book the would browse and dip. You could is especially interesting to see how title of which is branded, I would hardly fail to learn something new active and important systematics imagine, in the hope of association and interesting. I was amazed to and taxonomy are in America com- with a best-selling field guide. It is discover, for instance, that there are pared with Europe. The spelling is an edited multiple-author work, of about 30 species of exotic parrot American throughout, with the which Sibley is both the illustrator (Psittacidae) commonly recorded exception of the title. Someone and one of the editors and authors. and probably established in the must have feared that ‘Behavior’ in It is a book of two halves. About USA. the title would deter Europeans. I 100 pages cover biology, taxonomy Europeans will find this quite do not think that it should. and evolution, habitats, popula- an ‘American’ book because most Colin Bibby THE AVIFAUNA OF HONG KONG By G. J. Carey, M. L. Chalmers, D. A. Diskin, P. R. Kennerley, P. J. Leader, M. R. Leven, R. W. Lewthwaite, D. S. Melville, M. Turnbull & L. Young. Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, Hong Kong, 2001. 564 pages; 31 colour plates; 139 maps; 412 figures; 20 tables; line-drawings. ISBN 962-7508-02-0. Hardback, £34.50. Hong Kong has a long tradition of published an annual report since bird-recording. The first docu- 1958. The previous work on the mented observations were made in status and distribution of Hong 1860, by Robert Swinhoe, and Kong’s birds reached four editions, much has been published on Hong but this new Avifauna eclipses all of Kong’s birds since then, particu- them. It is in a league of its own. larly in the last 50 years. There has The introductory sections, been a succession of field guides to amounting to more than 100 climate, the breeding-bird survey, the birds of the former British pages, cover such topics as the winter waterbird counts, and bird- colony, and the Hong Kong Bird history of ornithology in Hong ringing. These are informative and Watching Society (HKBWS) has Kong, physical characteristics, well written. A complete species list © British Birds 95 • April 2002 • 205-208 205 Reviews is also included, as well as based on 41 years of HKBWS The paper is of top quality, the breeding-distribution maps (based records and surveys, while compar- layout is clear and uncluttered, and on the first comprehensive isons are made with data collated the two-colour maps add to the breeding-bird survey of Hong as long ago as 1861. Most accounts ease of interpretation. The artistic Kong), and a selection of bird and are accompanied by one or two cover may not be to everyone’s habitat photographs. graphs. Enormous numbers of taste, but inside these unassuming The species accounts comprise records were analysed in order to covers there lies a veritable treasure the bulk of the book and these are prepare these charts, and the trove of information. This is an impressive. Each account begins authors have succeeded in pre- essential reference to the status and with a summary of world range senting a vast amount of informa- distribution of birds in south and taxonomy, followed by a tion clearly and succinctly. China, and anyone with an interest detailed analysis of the status and This important book has been in this region should buy a copy. distribution in Hong Kong. This is produced to the highest standards. Nigel Redman American species are shorter (on WRENS, DIPPERS AND THRASHERS average, just over a page long) than By David Brewer & Barry Kent Mackay. Christopher Helm, those of species which occur in the A & C Black, London, 2001. 272 pages; 32 colour plates; 124 species USA and elsewhere (on average, illustrated in colour; 132 maps. two pages long). This major ISBN 1-873403-95-X. Hardback, £35.00. portion of the book appears to have been as thoroughly researched as Wrens, Dippers and Thrashers will the impressive bibliography sug- appeal primarily to those birders gests, and a wealth of information who live in or visit the Americas, is authoritatively presented. The where 121 of the 124 species attention to detail is such that a treated are endemic. Winter Wren number of obscure points of Troglodytes troglodytes also occurs interest can be found in the text, widely in North America, and only including the occurrence of a Eurasian Dipper Cinclus cinclus Cactus Wren Campylorhynchus and Brown Dipper C. pallasii are brunneicapillus (an apparently absent from the two continents. sedentary species in southwestern The book contains short USA and Mexico) in Saskatchewan, sections entitled contents, Canada, during a blizzard, and the acknowledgements, introduction, existence of both Dr John Le Conte, explanation of the species after whom Le Conte’s Thrasher accounts, classification and rela- Toxostoma lecontei is named, and tionships, conservation issues, his cousin, another Dr John Le topography, bibliography, index Conte, of Le Conte’s Sparrow and regional maps. The latter com- posture is not lifelike, the plumage is Ammodramus leconteii fame. prise maps of Central and South too dark and cold-toned, and the At £35.00, Wrens, Dippers and America which show the provinces birds look unnaturally scruffy. An Thrashers, with its 32 colour plates named in the distribution sections over-reliance on museum specimens and 272 pages in total, is over- of the species accounts. Where may have been a contributory factor. priced compared with some other appropriate, these chapters seem to Furthermore, there are no paintings recently published books in the have been well researched. of birds in flight; such images same series: Thrushes, with 60 Each of the 32 full-page colour should have been included for colour plates and 463 pages overall, plates covers, on average, four certain species in order to illustrate also costs £35.00, while Pigeons and species, and contains nine or ten distinctive wing and tail patterns. Doves, with 76 colour plates and a images. Every bird is coded, and is The systematic section is 160 total of 615 pages, is priced at captioned on a facing page with its pages long. The species accounts £38.00. Many of those who bought age, and sex where relevant, and are subdivided under the headings one or both of these other books comments on its structure and identification, description, geo- after little more than a glance at plumage; there are also statements graphical variation, voice, habitat, some of the splendid plates will on each species’ habitat and range. habits, status and distribution, need longer to discover that Wrens, To my eye, the quality of the paint- breeding, food, movements and Dippers and Thrashers, mainly on ings falls short of the high standard measurements; all include a distrib- the strength of its extremely well- which we have come to expect from ution map. Understandably, the written text, also deserves a place books in this series. In many cases, accounts of historically less well- on their bookshelves. the proportions are wrong, the studied endemic Central and South Peter Lansdown 206 British Birds 95 • April 2002 • 205-208 Reviews plumage. Backgrounds are also SUNBIRDS: pleasing and show either typical A GUIDE TO THE habitat or food plants. The images SUNBIRDS, are mostly numbered consecutively FLOWERPECKERS, and in the same order as on the SPIDERHUNTERS AND opposing caption page. Distinctive SUGARBIRDS races are portrayed and, in some OF THE WORLD cases, immature or non-breeding By Robert A. Cheke, males are illustrated. The subjects Clive F. Mann & Richard include some of the most colourful Allen. Christopher Helm, birds in the world and, with some A & C Black, London, 2001. figures approaching life-size, this is 384 pages; 48 colour plates; one of the most attractive of the numerous line-drawings; Helm Identification Guides.