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BOOK REVIEWS



The Meinertzhagen Mystery: The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud

by Brian Garfield, 385 pages, several black and white photos, is published

by Potomac Books, Inc., 22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, Virginia 20166,

USA. Price $27.50 in the USA.


Malcolm Ellis


ALBATROSSES, PETRELS AND SHEARWATERS


Albatrosses, Petrels and Shearwaters of the World by Derek Onley

and Paul Scofield is a recent addition to the very useful and well respected

Helm Field Guides. It is a 240 page guide with 45 colour plates illustrating

the 137 species of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, diving petrels and

storm-petrels that comprise the order Procellariiformes.


It is clearly aimed at the keen birdwatcher but would be useful for any

cruise participant with more than a passing interest in seabirds. Greater travel

opportunities and the availability of field guides such as this are resulting in

more people taking an interest in the identification of seabirds.


Although most species are predominately black and white, the colour

plates are valuable in allowing the portrayal of coloured bills, brown washes

and subtle shade differences that are important aids to identification. The

plates are a main feature of the guide and illustrate the range of plumages of

juvenile, immature and adult birds, as well as showing differences between

recognised subspecies. In addition, for the polymorphic species, also shown

are their dark, light and, where this occurs, the intermediate colour phases.

The level of detail is such that for some species fresh and worn plumages

are also illustrated. Seabirds at sea can look very different under different

light conditions and this and other difficulties of identification are addressed

in an introductory chapter.


The publication of this guide is timely in that albatrosses are becoming

increasingly threatened by 1 ong-1 ine fishing and the survival of many of the

smaller seabirds, all of which are largely dependent on fish, is increasingly

threatened by the reduction of fish stocks through overfishing and for some

species may also be impacted by climate change.


Many of the petrels, shearwaters and albatrosses breed on small islands

from which predators were previously absent, but on which introduced cats

and rats may play havoc. However, predator control and habitat restoration

are now aiding their recovery, so there can be some optimism for seabird

conservation.


Recent field and taxonomic work has resulted in a greater number of

species being recognised than in the past, this being largely the result of a

number of taxa that were previously considered as subspecies being now



