Special Review

Waterfowl of North America.--Paul A. Johnsgard.1975.Bloomington & London, Indiana University' Press.Pp. xiii + 575, 45 maps, 64 drawings, 1 color plate, 32 color photos, 96 black-and-white photos.S25.00.Ducks, geese and swans of North America.--FrankC. Bellrose.1976.Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Stackpole Books.A Wildlife Management Institute book sponsored jointly with the Illinois Natural History Survey.Pp. 543.57 maps, 36 drawings, 36 color plates, 57 figures, 1 black-and-white photo.$12.95.Handbook of North American Birds.--Ralph S. Palmer (Ed.).1976.New Haven and London, Yale University Press.Sponsored by American Ornithologists' Union and New York State Museum and Science Service.Vol. 2 Waterfowl (part 1): Pp. xi + 521.31 maps, 53 drawings, 4 color plates.$30.00.Vol. 3 Waterfowl (part 2): Pp. vii + 560.22 maps, 50 drawings, 4 color plates.$30.00.--The last major compendium on biology and distribution of North American waterfowl, "The ducks, geese and swans of North America" by F. H. Kortright, was published in 1943.That volume sold thousands of copies to students, hunters, and ornithologists.But few groups of birds have had more intensive study during the past 30 years and, however valuable, Kortright's volume has been out of date for some time.Suddenly, the buyer interested in waterfowl has the choice of three up-to-date books covering the biology and conservation of this group.The volume by Bellrose is an official update of Kortright's book-but only the color plates make it identifiable.Several authors assisted or contributed chapters.Johnsgard's book is a one-man effort that aims for a similar market among gift buyers and hunters.Volumes 2 and 3 of the Handbook of North American Birds (referred to here as Palmer) are typical ornithological handbooks based on contributions of numerous authors (including the author of this review), edited and updated by Palmer who deserves the credit for the volumes.They are comparable in scope to volumes 2 and 3 of the "Handbook of the birds of Middle Europe" (1968, 1969).In general, the binding, paper quality, and general appearance of the volumes is reflected by the price.Bellrose is perhaps the most modern in design, printing, and figures, but its low price was made possible by the use of T. M. Shortt's original color plates from Kortright.It also has the smallest print in the main text, but the titles on certain figures are so large that they exceed in size the initial titles on the species accounts.The price of $60.00 for two volumes of the Handbook will deter many buyers, but their quality is good.A reprinting of volume 1 of the Handbook also sells for $30.00.All three works are similar and traditional in approach with relatively brief introductions followed by species accounts.Introductory material is greatest in Bellrose with 73 pages in chapters dealing with classification, disease, identification, and migration by Bellrose, plumage (by M. W. Weller), conservation (by G. C. Sanderson), and hunting regulations (by A. S. Hawkins).Johnsgard has 30 pages in three chapters: biology, distribution and migration, and hunting and recreation.Palmer has 14 pages devoted to the book's approach and to a discussion of the family Anatidae.The species accounts in the three works differ in subject titles and in the order in which information is presented, but each covers similar material.In general, Johnsgard presents broad statements of previously published summaries, Palmer gives many examples of published and sometimes unpublished data, and Bellrose presents original or unpublished observations from various sources, including many items cited only by the observer's name.More detailed coverage of each species is responsible for the two volumes of the Handbook.For example, the account of the Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) occupies 52 pages of small Special Review JOHNSGARD, BELLROSE, PALMER ON NORTH AMERICAN WATERFOWL

Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.