24 ILLINOIS AUDUBON BULUE Rey 
EARTIIWATCH: NOTES ON A 
RESTLESS PLANET 
By Jean and Daniel Shepard 
Doubleday and Co., 245 Park Ave. 
New York, N.Y. 10017 
238 p., Illustrated, $8.95 
If you are excited by a thunder- 
storm, or pleased by cumulus 
clouds overhead on a summer day, 
you will find this catalogue of 
short-lived phenomena of natural 
events most fascinating. It des- 
cribes some of the world’s earth- 
quakes, floods, volcanoes, mud 
slides, tidal waves and emerging 
and disappearing islands. 
Few persons realize there is a 
global network of correspondents 
for an organization located at Cam- 
bridge Massachusetts called “The 
Center for Short-Lived Phenom- 
ena.” First organized in 1968, as an 
affiliate of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution it is a central and integral 
part of a world wide alert system 
with contacts in 148 nations and 
over 3,000 correspondents. 
The Center is able to move into 
immediate action, dispatching sci- 
entists to observe the biological or 
geological change in the earth’s 
system, while it is still occuring. 
These local reporters are often eye- 
witnesses to earthquakes and 
floods. 
Most of the phenomena men- 
tioned in Earthwatch are so recent 
that most of us can recall news- 
paper headlines about them: the 
Santa Barbara Oilspill; the erup- 
tions on Iceland; The Bay of Ben- 
gal Storm Surge; the Managua 
earthquake in Nicaragua; and 
many others. 
For the convenience of readers, 
a five year Table of Events, from 
1968 to 1973 is printed in four 
categories: Earth Science, Biologi- 
cal Science, Astrophysics, and 
Anthropology. The date of occur- 
ence, location and title of each 
phenomena is given. 
— Raymond Mostek 
THE WORLD ATLAS OF BIRDS 
By Peter Scott, Consultant Editor 
Random House, New York, 1974 
272p., 500 color plates, 270 line 
drawings, 167 maps and diagrams, 
$29.95 
This volume bears a great simi- 
larity to THE RAND McNALLY 
ATLAS OF WORLD WILDLIFE, 
(Illinois Audubon Bulletin, No. 
168, p. 39). It is restricted to birds 
in scope, but the general format 
follows the pattern of the realms 
of the world. It relies on illustra- 
tion to a great extent to convey 
the material. Layouts are good 
and the artwork is of good 
quality but has a rather weak 
“feel” for the subjects. Some famil- 
iar U.S. birds require a second look 
for identification, for example the 
Red-winged Blackbird on p. 62. 
The introductory sections cover 
evolution of feathers, flights, perch- 
ing, walking, swimming, feeding, 
senses, migration and display. The 
map on p. 20-21 has a series of 
black symbols not explained by the 
captions. The realms are _ intro- 
duced in one section and all species 
illustrated in the main body of the 
book are listed and color keyed to 
habitat. The main body then dis- 
cusses the major habitats of each 
realm in general terms with details . 
about several species. It is here 
that noticeable errors have crept 
in. Judging only those habitats 
known to me, over a dozen minor 
errors were found. Errors include 
reversal of common names for 
meadowlarks on the range map on 
p. 58 and 59; discrepancy between 
range map and text for the Scissor- 
tailed Flycatcher, p. 58 and 59; 
listing the Everglade (Snail) Kite 
as an endangered species rather 
than as an endangered race on a 
map caption while referring to it 
in the text as “abundant in some 
parts of their range” on p. 69. 
The final sections treat classifi- 
cation down to families with cross- . 
references and symbols for quick 
