BOOK REVIEWS
231
Gore's acquaintance with Western sources, I suspect that little of relevance has been missed. But as an example of space wasted where it was at a premium, I quote in full the status given for the Pied Kingfisher; "Rare winter visitor. There are a number of old records between November-February, but none since February 1917. It seems that it has decreased in numbers in recent years”. I would need the pen of A. E. Housman to do justice to that last sentence.
Books of this type stand or fall on the quality and comprehensiveness of the coloured plates, provided the author has been fortunate enough to be able to raise the funds for these. In this book these are generally disappointing, partly because the colouring is inaccurate, as it is in every species on Plate XXV (this could be the fault of the printer rather than the artist), and partly because the pictures just do not look like the birds they are supposed to represent. Plate XXXIII, of admittedly difficult species, would have helped as much if it had been omitted altogether, and the plates of hawks, besides being inaccurate in colouring, are of little use for identification because they do not show the birds in flight, when they are far more likely to be seen, and far easier to identify. Captions are not always correct; on Plate XXXIV, a picture of the Grey-spotted Flycatcher is captioned "Broad-billed Flycatcher", a particularly sad error as the species are similar, and the inclusion of this particular species on the plate was presumably intended to point out the distinctions between them. Some care has been taken to maintain the correct scale, although it is a little disturbing on Plate XIV to find the Hazel Grouse looking larger than a female Ring-necked Pheasant.
In spite of these faults, this book compares favourably with almost all other books available on the birds of Eastern Asia, though Kobayashi's Birds of Japan has better plates (but an inadequate text in Japanese only), and Smythies' Birds of Borneo is better on both counts. However, the fact that two individual books can be mentioned in this way, as the only books at all adequate for any part of this vast region, is an indication of the magnitude of the task which the authors set themselves, and in general the satisfactory way in which they have fulfilled it. I know that Professor Won would like to improve his Korean text, and would like to get better pictures done, and it is to be hoped that this book will be sufficiently successful to enable him and Mr. Gore to produce a revised and improved edition.
BOOK REVIEWS
231
Gore's acquaintance with Western sources, I suspect that little of relevance has been missed. But as an example of space wasted where it was at a premium, I quote in full the status given for the Pied Kingfisher; "Rare winter visitor. There are a number of old records between November-February, but none since February 1917. It seems that it has decreased in numbers in recent years”. I would need the pen of A. E. Housman to do justice to that last sentence.
Books of this type stand or fall on the quality and comprehensive- ness of the coloured plates, provided the author has been fortunate enough to be able to raise the funds for these. In this book these are generally disappointing, partly because the colouring is inaccu- rate, as it is in every species on Plate XXV (this could be the fault of the printer rather than the artist), and partly because the pictures just do not look like the birds they are supposed to represent. Plate XXXIII, of admittedly difficult species, would have helped as much if it had been omitted altogether, and the plates of hawks, besides being inaccurate in colouring, are of little use for identification because they do not show the birds in flight, when they are far more likely to be seen, and far easier to identify. Captions are not always correct; on Plate XXXIV, a picture of the Grey-spotted Flycatcher is captioned "Broad-billed Flycatcher", a particularly sad error as the species are similar, and the inclusion of this particular species on the plate was presumably intended to point out the distinctions between them. Some care has been taken to maintain the correct scale, although it is a little disturbing on Plate XIV to find the Hazel Grouse looking larger than a female Ring-necked Pheasant.
In spite of these faults, this book compares favourably with almost all other books available on the birds of Eastern Asia, though Kobayashi's Birds of Japan has better plates (but an inadequate text in Japanese only), and Smythies' Birds of Borneo is better on both counts. However, the fact that two individual books can be men- tioned in this way, as the only books at all adequate for any part of this vast region, is an indication of the magnitude of the task which the authors set themselves, and in general the satisfactory way in which they have fulfilled it. I know that Professor Won would like to improve his Korean text, and would like to get better pictures done, and it is to be hoped that this book will be sufficiently successful to enable him and Mr. Gore to produce a revised and improved edition.
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