Spring1982 Abstracts 29

ABSTRACTS OF THESES AND DISSERTATIONS

PREY SIZE SELECTION BY WILD AMERICAN KESTRELS (FALCO SPARVERIUS) WINTERING IN SOUTHCENTRAL FLORIDA

In order to test prey size preferences,free rangingAmerican Kestrels (Falco spar- verius)hunting from roadsideperches were eachoffered a pair of white laboratorymice (Mus musculus),representing two of four size categories(7-14 g, 15-22 g, 23-30 g, 31-38 g). Femalekestrels were observedsignificantly more often than malesin the studyarea. The largermouse of a pair was selectedsignificantly more often than the smallermouse. Electivity indices showed that mice of the smallestsize categorywere selectedbelow their availabilityand that the greatestproportional number of attacks wasdirected towards mice of the largestsize category.Mouse activity, determinedby the numberof 10 cm grid crossings,was directly proportional to mousesize. Thus either differentialsize or activity may have functionedas a stimulusfor prey size selection. Theseresults support an energymaximizing model of predatorchoice and are in direct oppositionto resultsobtained from laboratorystudies of owl and shrikeprey sizeselec- tion. A new techniquefor testingpreferences of roadsidehunting raptors for variable preycharacteristics is described.

Smallwood,John A. 1981. Prey size selectionby wild AmericanKestrels (Falco spar- verius)wintering in southcentralFlorida. M.S. Thesis,Miami University,Oxford, Ohio.

BOOK REVIEWS

The Birdsof Preyof SouthernAfrica. C. G. Finch-Daviesand A. C. Kemp.1980. Win- chesterPress, Ltd., Johannesburg,South Africa. 339 pp. Thisis an exceptionalbook that unfortunatelyis limitedto 1726volumes. Therefore, if you don'thave a copyby now you may not get one.The bookcertainly merits a re- view becauseof the significantcontribution to the historyof ornithologicalart andbiol- ogyof Africanraptors it presents.Basically the bookcontains the art work of the late Lt. C. G. Finch-Davies(1875-1920) with commentaryon each speciesby Alan Kemp, Curatorof birdsat the TransvaalMuseum. Finch-Davies grew up in Britishcolonialist traditionand like somany 19th century British ornithologists lived in bothIndia andAf- rica.He hada variedand controversial career and if he takesa placein historyit will be becauseof his art work and not his careerand achievementsas a military man. While the late and legendaryLeslie Brown has often been said to be the authorityon African raptorshis only edge on Alan Kemphas been his age. Alan's intimate knowledge of rap- tors,his keen ability asan observerand his intuitivecommon sense about raptors biolo- gy havebeen manifest throughout his narrative accounts. The bookcontains 141 colorplates, including the frontispiece;124 platesof diurnal raptorsand 17 of owls.Of the59 speciesof diurnalraptors shown all but 15 depictadult andjuvenile plumage and in all but a handfulof casesthere are morethan one plate per species.The 12 speciesof owlsshown are all adultbut one.While mostof the art work 30 RAPTOR RESEARCH Vol. 16, No. I is of a similarquality it spansa 10 year periodfrom 1910 to 1919. Someplates show ex- cellent fidelity, eg. the cream-backedform of the Bateleur(Terathopius ecaudatus) while othershave someminor problemswith body proportionssuch as the juvenile BlackSparrowhawk,(Accipiter melanoleucus). Plates that I particularlylike arethe male JackalBuzzard (But. eo rufofuscus), immature Tawny (Aquila rapax) and the adult femaleWhite-faced Owl (Otus leucotis).Several species, eg. SmallerBanded Snake- eagle(Circaetus cinerascens), and Long-legged ( rufinus) have occurred in southernAfrica sinceFinch-Davies' time and althoughnot illustratedthey are nonethe- lessmentioned by Kemp. While not a trained ornithologistFinch-Davies became an excellentobserver and clarifiedthe fact that the immatureof the Red-headedFalcon (now namedFalco chi- quera)was just that and not a differentspecies that hadbeen named (Falco horsbrughi). He alsoclarified a similaradult-immature confusion with a hawk-eagle(Hieraaetus). Dr. Kemp'sbackground is thoroughlyzoological and African;born in Zimbabwaof Britishancestry. While he hasa keeninterest in raptors,his Ph.D. work wason hornbills (Tocussp). Much of the earlier nomenclatureof raptorsis preservedby Kemp and differsfrom that preferredin the mostrecent Peters Check-list of Birdsof the World. Many of the formsKemp calls full speciesare referredto as"megasubspecies" in Peters; forms approachingfull speciesstatus. For example,Kemp placesthe Tawny Eagle (Aquilarapax) as a speciesapart from the SteppeEagle (Aquila nipalensis) and two dis- tinctiveAfrican (Buteo rufofuscus and B. augur)are treatedas differentspecies ratherthan both subspeciesof the formeras preferredin Peters.I do not know what is calledthe MountainBuzzard (Buteo tachardus) by Kemp but I presumeit to be the AfricanMountain Buzzard (B. oreophilus)of other check-lists.Dr. Kemp'sintuitive knowledgeof raptorsis superb.He hasincluded new datain the bookfrom hisown ob- servations,for example,data on the Dickinson'sKestrel (Falco dickinsoni)behavior. When my familyand I visitedthe Kempsin Pretoriain 1981,I watchedthe Dickinson's Kestrelsin a large cage in his backyardand one need only watch them and their fast parrot-likemovements for a shortperiod to realizehow differentthey are from other "kestrels".Through studies like Dr. Kempis doinghe shouldhelp clarifythe moreaccu- rate affinitiesand relationshipsof many of the aberrantAfrican raptorssuch as this kestrel. I heartilyrecommend that one familiarizehimself with this book and gleanthe new knowledgeof the remarkablediverse and abundantAfrican raptor faunathat is scat- teredthroughout the text. Thisbook will standfor sometime to comeas the mostcom- pleteof its kindon of prey of Southern,if not all, Africa. C. M. White ANNOUNCEMENTS

THE WILLIAM C. ANDERSEN MEMORIAL AWARD 1. THE AWARD An awardfor thebest paper presented by a studentat eachRaptor Research Founda- tion AnnualMeeting.

2. THE MAN Althoughhis professionwas chemistryprofessor at Otero JuniorCollege, La Junta, Colorado,Bill Andersen'sfirst love was raptors.He establishedthe OrnithologyRe-