Table Of Content

BookReviews / on page 13), but also to behavioural sequences (e.g. the fight oftwo Whimbrel on page 122), and landscapes (e.g. the Great Knot standing vigil over the tundra valley in eastern Siberia onpage70).Tliis isthemostimpressivecollec- tion of published shorebird images ofwhich 1 amaware. A few minor criticisms are possible for any book, and here theybarely warrant mention. 1 INVISIBLE CONNECTIONS wouldhavelikedtoseeaclearerdistinction,for the lay reader, between migrajits and residents pt«iaati.. VVHYMIGRATINGSHO—REBIRDSNEEDTHEVEllOWSfA (the latteralso depend heavilyon sites used by Omryltogm - migrants) and the caption on page 92 is not strictly accurate with respect to Point Cook. KiTufiq’Ki MnL«wx However,theseissuesaretrivial. Th«t .;r4l>fn4 I cannot overstate my enthusiasm for this e"'i'"' ' ' » » ' ' book, and it is not just because I am a shore- birder! 'Ihisbook isaboutbirds,but alsoabout simply a delight to read the work ofthis star- people and places, and the precious things we studded cast of international shorebird biolo- are settolose ifwe don’tbecome moresympa- gistsandecologists. thetic to the needs ofthe wildlife with which Thisbookisafeastfortheeyes,with240won- we share the planet. The contributors are to be derful colour photographs from throughout congratulated, not only on the quality oftheir theFlyway(theyaretobefoundoneverypage). work, but also on taking the initiative to take These images are as good as photographs get, theirsciencetoa broad audience. 1 highlyrec- and theyare reproducedandlaid-outsuperbly. ommendthiswonderful book. Pagenumbersarefrequently(andrightly)omit- ted toleave the images unspoilt, and many im- MichaelWeston agescovertheentirepage.Thereaderistreated SchoolofLifeandEnvironmentalSciences notonlytothecustomaryspectacularcloseups DeakinUniversity,221 BurwoodHwy Burwood,Victoria3125 ofindividual birds (e.g. the Bar-tailed Godwit Wildlife ofAustralia byLouiseEgertoii and Jiri Lochman Publisher:JacanaBooks,2009, 448pages, hardback, colourphotographs. ISBN9781741149975. RRP$59.99 What can 1 say about this book? Wildlife of Australia contains a wealth ofinformation on Australian biodiversity, with separate sections Wildlife devoted to mammals, birds, freshwater fishes, reptiles, frogs and invertebrate species. Select- o/AUSTRALIA ed species appear in family groupings and the habits,habitat,breedingandfeedingofeachare discussed. I.ouise Egenon andJiri Lochman 216 The Victorian Naturalist BookReviews Therearemanyinterestingfactstobelearned whom the book was directed. Was it for chil- from this book, and extra little tidbits are pre- dren?Orperhapsitwaswrittenfortheoverseas sented in boxes separate from the rest of the market, as every measurement was in metric text. withimperialmeasurementsinbrackets. While the description of each species con- The photographs were grand as one would tainsmuchfactual, informativeand interesting expectfrom thehandsofJiriLochman andthe detail, I found theattempts at humourandthe other contributors, with super photos appear- anthropomorphictvritingstyle,usedbytheau- inginallsectionsofthebook. thorparticularlyforthemammals,butalsoem- ployedthroughoutthebook,tobeextremelyir- AnneMorton ritating. 10RupicolaCrt IdidlearninformationofwhichIwasnotpre- Rowville,Victoria3178 viouslyaware,butstillhaddilficultydecidingto Meanderings in the Bush: Natural History Explorations in OutbackAustralia byRichard EMacMillen and Barbara MacMillen J Publisher: CSIROPublishing, Collingwood, 2009. 2ndedn, paperback,208pages. ISBN9780643097063. RRP$49.95. try. The stories ofmany adventures and some misadventures aretold in ahumorous style, all the while showing respect for the country, the station people and outback characters and the faunaencounteredandstudied. In Chapter 7, MacMillen discusses the ad- aptations to the arid emironment adopted by some ofthe wildlife. Chapter 8 introduces the This book is a record of American ecologist human dimension intotheequation and ques- RichardMacMillen’s sixvisitstoAustraliaover tions whether the native creatures can survive aperiod of26years. Aswell as descriptions of under the changes brought about by the hu- field work conducted, mostly in Queensland’s man occupation and use ofthe outback areas. ChannelCountry,therearestoriesofotherme- MacMillen suggests solutions for co-existence; anderings in the outback and ofliving on an recent history would suggest that it is unlikely islandintheHawkesburyRiver. thatgovernmentswilllisten. MacMillen’sfieldworkwaswide-rangingand As an ecologist and as a traveller to many of included: smallmammals such asKowari, Kul- the places mentioned, I enjoyed reading this tarrandFawn-hoppingMice;InlandCrabsand book. NowIamlookingforwardtogoingback their burrowing strategies to survive the dry againtoseeitwithfresheyes. times; and parrots such as Red-rumped, Ring- neck and Little CoreOas with their economical AnneMorton Useofwater. 10RupicolaCrt Inadditiontofieldwork,thereweremeander- Rowville,Victoria3178 ings,travelsandexplorationsaroundthecoun- Vol 127 (5) 2010 217