ORNITHOLOGICAL LITERATURE 
853 
of families that fill another large portion of the 
volume: the weavers (Ploceidae), and their allies 
the estrildids (waxbills) and viduids (indigobirds 
and whvdahs). Finally, this volume treats (he 
New World birders’ darlings, the wood warblers 
iParulidae. often loudly dressed and tastefully 
voiced), along with their frequent neighbors the 
vireos (Vireonidae. often loudly voiced and 
tastefully dressed). The lone Olive Warbler 
i Peucedranuis taeniatus) is probably related to 
the accentors covered back in Volume 10. but is 
kept in this volume as its own family next to the 
warblers for appearance' sake (i.e., it looks and 
acts like one) and at least a couple of other 
putative warblers are stuck here that are probably 
tanagers. Thus, eight families are covered, 
including some of the most familiar and well 
studied birds in the world. 
Before diving into the families, following an 
excellent HBW tradition, the volume begins with 
an extensive topical Foreword, this one an update 
to the global stale of bird conservation. The 2002 
World Summit on Sustainable Development set 
2010 as a target deadline to ’significantly reduce 
biodiversity loss’. The central message from the 
four authors, all major players in 13 it'd Life 
International, is that with respect to birds, we 
failed. We know a lot more now. but knowledge 
was never really the main issue. We vc known 
enough for a while, but we tailed to do much 
about it. Roughly half of the world’s bird species 
have declining populations, and one in eight is 
Ihreatened with global extinction. The most 
significant threats are agriculture, wood harvest¬ 
ing, and invasive species. The argument, and 
more generally the presented picture ol the 
current state of bird conservation, is tremendously 
informative with 58 color figures attractively 
complementing the textual description of the 
status of the world’s birds, underlying reasons 
for the trends, and possible solutions and 
mitigations. 
Typically for the series, the species accounts 
are preceded by a scholarly but accessible 
description of the family, with standardized 
sections: Systematic*. Morphological Aspects, 
Habitat, General Habits. Voice. Food and Feed¬ 
ing, Breeding. Movements. Relationship with 
Man. Status and Conservation. Interspersed with 
a generally comprehensive view ol the taxonomy, 
lifestyle, and natural history of the family are 
samplings Tram recent and classic behavioral or 
ecological studies, observations by naturalists, and 
even literary and historical points relating to the 
birds or the names we give them. Each author is 
generally a major scholar—indeed, often the 
undisputed heavyweight champion—of the re¬ 
spective family. The photographs that accompany 
these descriptions are stunning, without qualifica¬ 
tion. A small army of ornithopaparuzzi have 
caught birds in the midst of virtually every aspect 
of their daily activity—nestbuilding, foraging, 
courting, copulating, bathing, tending young— 
and have presented these scenes to us with perfect 
vibrancy and artistry. Equally exquisite are the 
wonderfully large plates opposite the accounts, 
depicting every bird species, including both males 
and Temales if dimorphic, and subspecies if they 
look different. 
To criticize an installment of an unprecedented 
overview of the world's birds feels somewhat like 
an exercise in ingratitude, since the very existence 
of this series—the fact that these people have 
bothered to do it. and have in the end produced 
this masterpiece—is inspiring and encouraging. 
Nevertheless, any critic will always have done it 
differently. I would have liked to see introduced 
ranges mapped (the House Finch f Curpodocus 
mexicanus] is the only species for which this is 
done, insofar as its introduced range is in the 
same continent). The absence of citations in the 
text of the family descriptions renders them much 
less useful as a scientific resource, because the 
trouble of searching out the sources of claims is 
prohibitive. For instance, if we want to follow up 
on the idea that the head coloration of the Red¬ 
headed Quelea (Queleci erythops) is an arbitrary 
signal and not an indicator, or that the white tail 
patches of the Slate-throated Whitestart (Myio- 
borus miniatus) function in startling prey into 
flight, there is no easy way this can be done. The 
large General Bibliography (actually a list of 
authors and dates) at the end of each family 
description is of very little specific use. But 
perhaps this and other criticisms I have in mind 
have a common thread, and reveal that 1 might 
not be quite in step with the purpose or the series. 
Perhaps 1 am wanting this Handbook to be more a 
review of the scientific literature, when in fact its 
function is mainly to introduce us to all of the 
birds, what they do, how they live, and where 
they occur. Each family section is like an 
extended episode of the BBC Life of Birds 
followed by a field guide on steroids. It is 
comprehensive in terms of species, but not in 
terms of what is known about each species. It is 
