o4 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 
such as Petrels, Shearwaters, and Gulls. Evidently, so many seabirds are 
washed ashore, and often found decomposed, that the condition of a bird 
does not readily lend itself to easy identification. The bill outline gives 
some assistance, but the authors caution against using it for positive 
identification. 
The color plates, which are well done, are confined to one area of 
the book rather than spread throughout the chapters. The facing page 
gives an added characteristic of two of each bird. 
Like all good field guides, this volume provides information on the 
size, appearance, voice, habitat and range. A distribution map appears on 
almost every page, an unusual feature for an Australian guide. The authors 
have been extremely thoughtful and kind to the reader: Among other 
features are a Visual Index to help locate a color plate easily; a Check 
List for the 394 species which are listed; an Index to both the color plates 
and the figures; a Selected Bibliography, and an Index to the Common 
Names and the Scientific Names. The book also covers birds found on the 
nearby island of Tasmania, plus some nearby minor islands. 
Finally, the book is a bit on the heavy side, but of a convenient size 
to slip in a shoulder bag. Eight other naturalists have aided Mr. Slater in 
the preparation of the book. He also invites correspondence from observers. 
— Mrs. I. L. Mostek 
THE DILIGENT DESTROYERS. By George Laycock. 
Audubon/Ballantine Books. 1970. $1.25* 
Knowledgeable Auduboners rate George Laycock one of the most competent 
National Audubon magazine editors. They also know him as one of con- 
servation’s most prolific — and many say one of its most effective — 
proponents. As a “cool’ conservation evangelist, Laycock is not one. the 
enemies of conservation would call an extremist; yet he is consistently a 
hard hitter. Although his sledgehammer is padded with considered objectiv- 
ity, it delivers devastating blows, since it is weighted with well-researched 
facts, incontrovertible statistics and convincing quotations. 
His quotes are from many lucid writers from Aldo Leopold to Stuart 
Udall, but note this anonymous characterization of the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers: “Where a river silts up — dredge it. Where it runs crooked — 
straighten it. Where it runs straight — deepen it. Where it runs at all — 
stop it. And where it doesn’t run — build a canal.” 
Then there are these prize quotes from one of “the enemy,” a Wash- 
ington representative of the Department of Transport, also anonymous: 
“These do-gooders bitch and complain and they don’t make sense. Where 
would we be if it weren’t for roads?” This was supposed to answer all 
questions, as was also this: “These goddam clowns who fight us don’t seem 
to understand that the people want roads.” 
The “diligent destroyers,” one soon learns, are not the Army Corps of 
Engineers alone. Equally diligent are shown to be the Bureau of Reclama- 
tion, federal and state road-builders whom the author calls “the Highway- 
men,” strip miners for coal and other minerals, and currently Texas shell 
dredgers who threaten the wintering ground of our few remaining whoop- 
ing cranes. 
Conservationists who favor the transfer of all civilian projects of the 
