424 
THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY • Vol. 123. No. 2. June 2011 
describes a trip to the pine forests above Kenscoff 
where I had the privilege of watching parakeets 
and crossbills in the same tree. 
The selective species accounts (albeit without 
scientific names) provide a bird finding guide for 
the species a lister ‘'needs”. I would have found it 
easier to use if it was arranged strategically: 
Greater Antillean endemics. Multi-island (near) 
endemics. Island endemics. The full species table 
(11 pages including scientific names) gives 
occurrence and status on each of the island 
groups. A recommendation for a future edition 
is a list for each of the islands where the endemics 
and near endemics are listed by location. This 
would greatly assist individuals with limited time 
in choosing which one or a few locations would 
yield the greatest diversity. Astute readers will be 
able to extract this from the text. 
It is gratifying that species names are capital¬ 
ized. a practice that should be followed by all bird 
books to avoid confusion in identifying which 
words arc adjectives and which are part of a 
proper noun (i.e., little Blue Heron vs. Little Blue 
Heron [Egretta caerulep\), A book that focuses on 
endemics must be cognizant of taxonomic status 
and recent splits and lumps. The authors do quite 
well listing recently split species and acknowl¬ 
edging they are “sometimes treated as subspecies 
of...." The tenuous and tentative status of some 
splits is mentioned, for instance under Loggerhead 
Kingbird <Tyrannus caudifnsciatus). I could not 
find mention of the basis for English names used 
anywhere. I was stumped, for example, by the 
Hispaniolan Highland Tanagcr. and had to check 
the species list to find this refers to the White¬ 
winged Warbler (Xenoligea montana). 
A species index would enhance the utility of the 
guide. My copy of the book was poorly produced 
as the binding is awkward for the first half where 
the left hand page trails almost into the gutter. 
Overall this is a well thought out and well- 
constructed birding guide to a fascinating and 
accessible birding region with a high proportion 
of endemic species.—MICHAEL GOCHFELD. 
Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA; 
e-mail: gochfeld @eohsi .rutgers.edu 
BIRDS OF THE MIDDLE EAST. Second 
Edition. By Richard Porter and Simon Aspinall. 
Princeton University Press. Princeton, New Jer¬ 
sey, USA. 2010; 384 pages and 176 color plates. 
ISBN: 978-0-691-14844-1. $39.50 (paperback).— 
The Middle East is a fascinating zoogeographic 
region. linking Europe, Asia, and Africa: it 
therefore has strong influences from the avifauna 
of each of these regions. Further, some parts of the 
Middle East show high rates of endemism, 
especially in the mountain ranges of southern 
Arabia in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The first 
edition of this book, published in 1996, provided 
the ornithological community with an opportunity 
to study the region’s entire avifauna with all its 
diversity. Some Middle Eastern endemics depict¬ 
ed in that edition were not shown in any other 
field guide. Richard Porter w'as joined by Steen 
Christensen and Per Shiermacker-Hansen to 
produce that ground-breaking book. Richard 
Porter is certainly one of the most knowledgeable 
ornithologists of this region and. for the second 
edition, was joined by Simon Aspinall. a UAE- 
based birder. 
Years have passed since the publication of the 
first edition, and the region has received more and 
more ornithological attention. Of special note are 
the first and second editions of The Birds of 
Europe by Svensson. MuIIamey and Zetterstrora 
that set new standards for regional field guides in 
detail and accuracy, and which are relevant to 
most parts of the Middle East. Thus, an update of 
the first edition of Birds of the Middle East was 
necessary because of recent advances in the 
ornithological knowledge of the region. Porter 
and Aspinall made major improvements by 
changing the book format to the more user- 
friendly plate-facing-text format. This has made 
the book slimmer and compact; it can now easily 
fit into a trouser pocket rather than be carried 
inside a bag. 
The taxonomic order used in the second edition 
follows most recent publications and the distribu¬ 
tion maps have been completely revised; they now 
include separate representations for the different 
seasons. More than 100 species that did not appear 
in the 1996 edition were added; some are a result 
of new species discovered in the region, while 
others resulted from taxonomic changes and 
advances. Of special note arc the large white- 
headed gulls, which are now treated in urw 1 
detail. The taxonomic approach adopted by the 
authors is impressively advanced with Steppe 
Gull ( Lams barabensis) treated as a full species 
and not as a subspecies of Caspian Gull (i- 
cachinnans). The advanced treatment ol the 
‘small shearwater' complex is also impressive 
and useful. Some distinctive subspecies are given 
