Reviews extent in New Guinea and the the intersection of Western Aus- HANDBOOK OF Lesser Sundas, while Scarlet Hon- tralia, South Australia and AUSTRALIAN, NEW eyeater Myzomela sanguinolenta Northern Territory). ZEALAND AND also occurs on New Caledonia. The Everything about the highly ANTARCTIC BIRDS. VOL. 5: five extant New Zealand passerine authoritative text is excellent. TYRANT-FLYCATCHERS endemics, and many of the Aus- Layout, headings and sub-head- TO CHATS. tralian endemics have been exten- ings, readability, presentation of Edited by P. J. Higgins, J. M. sively studied. Not surprisingly, tables and detailed data, distribu- Peter & W. K. Steele. Oxford therefore, the page per species ratio tion maps and references, all are University Press, Melbourne, in this volume, 10:3, is greater than first-rate. The team of three senior 2001. 1,270 pages; 44 colour in any of the earlier volumes. The editors, two assistant editors and plates; numerous line- text for Superb Lyrebird Menura 19 contributing editors has pro- drawings and maps. novaehollandiae, with its complex duced a very consistent style of ISBN 0-19-553258.9. social organisation and behaviour presentation, section by section Hardback, £135.00. and its astonishingly varied vocali- and species by species. Browsing sations, runs to no fewer than 32 throughout, and reading through pages. three of my favourite species in The first and largest volume of this Various minor alterations to full, I failed to spot any errors. mammoth project was published the presentation in each text Six artists have contributed the in 1990 and, since it ran to 1,440 section are detailed in the intro- series of 44 colour plates, depicting pages, it was divided into two duction. The most significant is in all but three species (the two books. It has taken a further 11 ‘Taxonomy and Nomenclature’ ground-tyrants and Stephens years to reach the publication of which now follows the ground- Island Wren). Sexual dimorphism, Volume 5, which, at 1,270 pages, is breaking Directory of Australian age-related variations and all sub- the next largest volume. With two Birds: Passerines (Schodde & specific variations are shown, with more to come, we may hope for Mason, 2000). Thus, for example, flight views when relevant; Varie- completion by 2006 or 2007. Short-tailed Grasswren Amytornis gated Fairy-wren Malurus lamberti Volume 5 is the first dealing merrotsyi (restricted to the Flinders gets most images, with 17. The with passerines and covers 118 and Gawler Ranges in South Aus- styles of illustration are extremely species, of which 115 are cate- tralia) is now split from the widely compatible and all are very attrac- gorised as breeding species, (though disjunctly) distributed tive: the standard is so high that I although two of these (Bush Wren Striated Grasswren A. striatus, was unable to select a favourite. Xenicus longipes and Stephens while Kalkadoon Grasswren A. bal- Reviews of earlier volumes have Island Wren X. lyalli) are extinct, larae (with a restricted range in attracted many superlatives and and the providence of another northwest Queensland) is split Volume 5 is no different: simply (Red-bellied Pitta Pitta erythro- from Dusky Grasswren A. purnelli brilliant! gaster) as a breeder is considered (with a sizeable range straddling Nick Dymond doubtful. The three non-breeders are all vagrants to the ‘HANZAB’ region: two species of ground- DIE TEICHRALLE: ODER DAS TEICHHUHN: tyrants (Muscisaxicola), each with GALLINULA CHLOROPUS one record on South Georgia; and By H. Engler. Westarp Wissenschaften, Hohenwarsleben, 2000. Blue-winged Pitta P. moluccensis, 359 pages; 5 colour plates; 125 figures; 22 tables. with four vagrants in Western Aus- ISBN 3-89432-347-7. Paperback, £46.00. tralia and one on Christmas Island. Dominating this volume are the This third, revised and enlarged, edition of Helmut Engler’s Moorhen 22 fairywrens, emuwrens and Gallinula chloropus monograph is an excellent publication in the German- grasswrens (Maluridae) and the 76 language Neue Brehm-Bücherei (New Brehm Library) series. It comprises honeyeaters and Australian chats 28 chapters, but the main focus is on breeding biology and behaviour, (Meliphagidae), but also dealt with much of the material for which came from the author’s long-term and are the New Zealand wrens (Acan- meticulous observations of parkland Moorhens in Düsseldorf. The many thisittidae), pittas (Pittidae), lyre- photographs and drawings are an attractive and illuminating complement birds (Menuridae), scrub-birds to the text and the author has also thoroughly reviewed the Moorhen liter- (Atrichornis) and treecreepers (Cli- ature. Now fully protected in Germany (unlike the Coot Fulica atra), the macteridae). Of the 68 Australian Moorhen is nevertheless declining there, with changes in pond manage- honeyeaters, 54 are endemic, 13 ment and in agriculture, as well as disturbance, being some of the factors also occur to a greater or lesser implicated. M. G. Wilson 320 © British Birds 95 • June 2002 • 320-321 Reviews Some 200 colour photos cover cristatus will be of little interest to EXTRAORDINARY more than 50 taxa, including birders. PHEASANTS tragopans Tragopan, monals The text is limited and pretty By Stephen Green-Armytage. Lophophorus, junglefowl Gallus, the basic, covering classification, distri- Harry N. Abrams, New York, Lophura pheasants, Eared-pheas- bution, breeding biology, captive 2002. 111 pages; 200 colour ants Crossoptilon and Peacock- breeding and conservation, with a photographs. pheasants Polyplectron.My few notes on each of the species ISBN 0-8109-1007-1. personal favourites are the covered in the book. If pheasants Hardback, £16.95. sequences of a displaying Bulwer’s are your passion, or, if you are Pheasant Lophura bulweri and a looking for a new coffee-table The author states in the preface displaying Palawan Peacock- book, then consider buying this. If, that his aim was to produce a pic- pheasant P. emphanum. All the however, your budget is limited, torial celebration of pheasants photos were taken in captivity, and and you want a serious text on (Phasianidae), and that is exactly in many cases they are set against a pheasants, the recent Christopher what he has done. This book is a studio background. The 18 pages Helm publication is a better bet. feast of stunning images of some of set aside for various mutant forms the most beautiful, bizarre and of Golden Pheasant Chrysolophus Paul Harvey sought-after birds in the world. pictus and Indian Peafowl Pavo urbanisation around the site. BIRDS OF But this is much more than a BRENT RESERVOIR systematic list. Sections on habitat By Leo Batten, Roy Beddard, management – enlivened by before John Colmans & Andrew Self. and after photographs – should Welsh Harp Conservation inspire other dedicated bands of Group, Barnet, 2002. 223 local conservationists. Accounts of pages; 14 pages of colour site ‘firsts’, and rarities – like plates; line-drawings. Britain’s first Iberian Chiffchaff ISBN 0-9541862-0-6. Phylloscopus brehmii in 1972 – Paperback, £12.00. convey the thrill of local-patch watching. Concise sections on wider natural history at the reser- This is a superbly comprehensive voir, from plants, through fish, to local avifauna. At its heart are insects, complete the picture for accounts for the 243 species what, as Bill Oddie suggests in his recorded at the reservoir in over foreword, ‘might just be the ideal 170 years of bird study. The accu- peaking with an incredible flock of local patch’. Any reservoir birder mulation of historical records is a 155 in 1956, but it now occurs very will enjoy this book and dreaming mine of information on the sporadically. Generally, the records of what can be achieved on their changing occurrences of both are placed in a well-informed own stomping ground. familiar and scarcer birds. For wider London context, while a sep- example, Smew Mergellus albellus arate chapter considers species Tony Blake used to be a regular Brent bird, trends against the growth of The area regularly holds as many as coloured drawings, of which there WILD GOOSE WINTER: ten species, including up to 20,000 are about 160, all of them water- OBSERVATIONS OF GEESE wintering Brent Geese Branta ber- colours, all completed in the field. IN NORTH NORFOLK nicla and 70,000 Pink-footed Geese McCallum’s style closely resembles By James McCallum. Silver Anser brachyrhynchus. His new that of Eric Ennion, and that of Brant, Wells-next-the-Sea, book of paintings is the fruit of John Busby, who taught him. The 2001. 114 pages; 64 colour that long-standing attachment and illustrations are quite simply out- plates; about 100 drawings. represents a milestone in the devel- standing: remarkably bold in their ISBN 0-9541695-0-6. opment of an exceptionally tal- composition, acutely observed and Hardback, £25. ented painter. beautifully committed to the page. The plates are accompanied by The peculiar magic of these highly a text which gives a valuable social birds affects many people, James McCallum has had a deep account of the birds’ daily behav- and they will find that quality fully passion for geese all his life and, iour. The main purpose of the celebrated in the paintings. living in north Norfolk, has had book is, however, as a vehicle for many opportunities to indulge it. the author’s paintings and Mark Cocker © British Birds 95 • June 2002 • 320-321 321.