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Birds & Beasts   |   READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Here's a page from Longitude, the specialty bookseller for travelers. To order online, and to see the latest, most comprehensive selection of books and maps, go to http://reading.longitudebooks.com/8H9918. You may also call 800-342-2164 to order or request a catalog.


Highly Recommended
Bird, The Definitive Visual Guide  •  Ben Hoare
NATURAL HISTORY •  2009 •  PAPER  • 512 PAGES
A giant visual primer on the world's most common, fantastic and intriguing species, covering 1,500 birds in all, with large photographs, range maps and concise descriptions. (BRD54, $27.95)		   Bird, The Definitive Visual Guide
Birds of Tropical America  •  Steven Hilty
NATURAL HISTORY •  2005 •  PAPER  • 312 PAGES
An ornithologist and veteran leader of birding expeditions, Hilty serves up short essays on how to find and better appreciate the dizzying variety of neotropical birds, their habits and habitats, diversity and distribution in this favorite book. This is not a field guide, but rather a natural history and an introduction to antbirds, flycatchers, manikins and other typical bird families. With 11 lovely pencil illustrations by Mimi Hoppe Wolfe. Originally published in 1994, this new edition is updated with new references. (CAM39, $25.00)		   Birds of Tropical America
The Bedside Book of Beasts  •  Graeme Gibson
NATURAL HISTORY •  2009 •  HARD COVER  • 352 PAGES
Gibson brings together literary excerpts, paintings, drawings, and essays for this marvelously addictive, terrifically illustrated miscellany. With full-color paintings throughout. The selections by diverse writers including Charles Darwin, Peter Matthiessen, Barry Lopez, and Edgar Allan Poe focus on the relationship between predator and prey. Gibson's anecdotal asides and introductions are pure pleasure. (BST140, $35.00)		   The Bedside Book of Beasts
The Bedside Book of Birds  •  Graeme Gibson
NATURAL HISTORY •  2005 •  HARD COVER  • 352 PAGES
Gibson brings together literary excerpts, paintings, drawings, and essays for this marvelously addictive, terrifically illustrated ornithological miscellany. With full-color paintings throughout. The selections by diverse writers include John James Audubon, Jorge Luis Borges, Charles Darwin, Peter Matthiessen, Farley Mowat, Barry Lopez, and Edgar Allan Poe. Gibson's anecdotal asides and introductions are pure pleasure. (BRD31, $37.50)		   The Bedside Book of Birds
Birdsong by the Seasons  •  Donald Kroodsma
NATURAL HISTORY •  2009 •  HARD COVER  • 384 PAGES
Nice job if you can get it. Besotted with birds and birdsong, Kroodsma sets up camp in front of an old oak late on a January afternoon, spends some time with Sand Hill Cranmes in Kansas, dashed down to Costa Rica, awakens with Scarlet Tanagers back home in Massuchussets and otherwise chronicles a year of travels in search of birds. This joyous exploration of birdsong by a leading authority includes two audio CDs for your listening pleasure. Sure, you can identify birds by song but Kroodsma wants you rather to identify with the birds. (BRD73, $28.00)		   Birdsong by the Seasons
National Geographic Illustrated Birds of North America, Folio Edition  •  Jonathan Alderfer
NATURAL HISTORY •  2009 •  HARD COVER  • 504 PAGES
Both art book and reference, this spectacular book features thousands of exquisite illustrations, a field guide grown large. With 4,000 illustrations, 750 range maps and good detail on identification, range, habits, voice and status of each of North America's birds. (USA122, $50.00)		   National Geographic Illustrated Birds of North America, Folio Edition
Tigerland, and Other Unintended Destinations  •  Eric Dinerstein
NATURAL HISTORY •  2007 •  PAPER  • 296 PAGES
Dinerstein, chief scientist with WWF, chronicles his globe-trotting adventures in this series of seven enjoyably engaging essays. Our reluctant hero lucks into the Peace Corps in Nepal, has a grand time with some of the greats in tropical ecology in Costa Rica, heads out to Ladakh to study snow leopards, finds himself in New Caledonia, East Africa, Galapagos, the plains of Montana and then back in Nepal. Dinerstein is a wise and witty writer, combining stories of his own transformation into a conservation biologist with deft portraits of key researchers and some fine observations about place. (CON30, $25.00)		   Tigerland, and Other Unintended Destinations
A Naturalist and Other Beasts  •  George B. Schaller
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2010 •  PAPER  • 272 PAGES
In this absorbing memoir the eminent zoologist writes with authority and affection of his many field expeditions over a long career in conservation, including his time among the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, snow leopards in Nepal and his groundbreaking work on giant pandas in Sichuan. (NAT119, $16.95)		   A Naturalist and Other Beasts
Bird Watch  •  Martin Walters
NATURAL HISTORY •  2011 •  HARD COVER  • 256 PAGES
Encyclopedic in scope, this book features all 1,227 species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, showcasing both the diversity of birds and their habitats worldwide. (BRD94, $45.00)		   Bird Watch
Eye to Eye  •  Frans Lanting
NATURAL HISTORY •  2009 •  HARD COVER  • 252 PAGES
A spectacular collection of 140 color photographs focusing on close-ups of animals around the world. Lanting is one of the most imaginative, well-traveled wildlife photographers at work. (GEN75, $19.99)		   Eye to Eye



Also Recommended

Birds of the World  •  Les Beletsky   • REFERENCE  •  Beletsky (Traveller's Wildlife Guides) corralled 11 leading bird artists for this oversized ornithological celebration featuring 1,600 paintings. (BRD43, $55.00)
 		  
On Rare Birds  •  Anita Albus   • REFERENCE  •  Award winning writer and artist, Anita Albus, tells and illustrates the unfortunate stories of several extinct or near extinct bird species, including the passenger pigeon, the Carolina parakeet, and the great auk. (BRD102, $24.95)
 		  
The Atlas of Birds  •  Mike Unwin   • REFERENCE  •  An essential reference for birders, this comprehensive, illustrated atlas, organized by family, shows the full diversity of birds. (BRD101, $22.95)
 		  
The Backyard Birdsong Guide, Eastern and Central North America  •  Donald E. Kroodsma   • GUIDEBOOK  •  Crisply detailed, accurate color illustrations accompany each of 75 recordings of birdsong. With range maps from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (BRD68, $29.95)
 		  
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World  •  James Clements  •  John W. Fitzpatrick   • REFERENCE  •  The authoritative reference for serious birders, updated throughout for this sixth edition, covers 9800 species and subspecies with space to record location and date of sightings. (BRD42, $59.95)
 		  
Top 100 Birding Sites of the World  •  Dominic Couzens   • GUIDEBOOK  •  Whether it's dancing cranes, cassowaries in Queensland, the avian endemics of the Seychelles or the astounding display of lesser flamingos on Africa's Rift Valley lakes, this gorgeous book describes the best spots for birds. Truly global, each entry includes a list of key species, map and travel information. (BRD72, $50.00)
 		  
Among Giants, A Life with Whales  •  Flip Nicklin   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  Humpbacks, narwhals, sperm whales, orcas and other cetaceans parade through this illustrated memoir by the ocean-obsessed, National Geographic photographer Flip Nicklin. (BST200, $40.00)
 		  
Last of the Curlews  •  Fred Bodsworth   • LITERATURE  •  A classic, with marvelous illustrations by Abigail Rorer, Fred Bodsworth's haunting novel tracks a solitary Eskimo Curlew from the pampas of Argentina to its summer breeding grounds high above Hudson Bay. This new edition includes a foreword by poet W.S. Merwin, who re-discovered the book, originally published in 1955. Once one of the most numerous shorebirds in North America, the last confirmed sighting of the Eskimo Curlew was in the 1960s and Bodsworth's novel is both an elegy to the bird and cautionary tale about wanton hunting. (BRD92, $14.95)
 		  
Mark Twain's Book of Animals  •  Mark Twain   • LITERATURE  •  The exceptional Barry Moser provides 30 engravings for this miscellany of Twain's undiscovered, rediscovered and celebrated letters, stories and travelogues about animals (BST145, $50.00)
 		  
The Audubon Reader  •  John James Audubon   • ANTHOLOGY  •  A definitive anthology of nature writings by the great artist and ornithologist features Audubon's lively and colorful writings about the American wilderness and its plant and animal life, accompanied by excerpts from his journals, letters, and published works that include his keen profiles of wild birds, accounts of his river journeys with the Osage, and more. (BRD59, $27.50)
 		  
A Year on the Wing, Journeys With Birds in Flight  •  Tim Dee   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Dee mixes his love of birds and of literature into a richly poetic chronicle of a year on the trail of birds and those who have written about them. (BRD90, $15.00)
 		  
Albatross: Their World, Their Ways  •  Tui De Roy  •  Mark Jones  •  Julian Fitter   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  The culmination of a storied career at sea as roving naturalist-photographers, this remarkable collection of 300 photographs of the ocean wanderers, both at sea and on the nest, is not just beautiful. It's also an authoritative survey of the natural history, status and conservation of the world's Diomedeidae. Anyone who has tried to photograph these magnificent birds in flight will appreciate the art, experience and perseverance of De Roy, Jones and Fitter. (BRD64, $49.95)
 		  
All the World's Birds  •  Georges-louis Leclerc comte de Buffon  •  David Sibley  •  Francois-Nicolas Martinet   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  A sumptuous new edition of magnificent color engravings from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Generale et Particuliere by Francois-Nicolas Martinet, originally published in 36 volumes between 1749 and 1778, with the original descriptive information and an appreciative introduction by David Sibley. (BRD62, $350.00)
 		  
Animal, The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife  •  Don E. Wilson  •  David Burnie   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  A giant reference to wildlife throughout the world, compiled by the Smithsonian and a group of zoologists. From insects, marine life and amphibians to birds and mammals, it runs the gamut. (BST80, $50.00)
 		  
Audubon's Birds of America  •  John James Audubon   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  The spectacular Baby Elephant Folio edition of Audubon's 435 hand-colored engravings. (BRD37, $185.00)
 		  
Audubon, Early Drawings  •  John James Audubon   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Splendid in their own right, these drawings, presented for the first time in a large format and in full color, document Audubon's evolution as an artist. Each of the 116 meticulously reproduced portraits includes Audubon's ornithological notes and commentary. With chapters on Birds of America, European birds and exotic birds and mammals. (BRD79, $125.00)
 		  
Birds of a Feather  •  Jane Yolen   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Jason Stemple's gorgeous color photographs accompany captivating avian poems, like these couplets on the Belted kingfisher: ("Hey, girl, fish lover,/ Sitting on the dead gray tree,/ Love the blue Mohawk"). Geared for ages 4-6. (BRD97, $17.95)
 		  
Birds of North America, American Museum of Natural History  •  Francois Vuilleumier   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Edited by AMNH ornithologist Francis Vuilleumeir, this big, beautiful birder's reference covers all the birds of North America (yes, including Mexico and Canada) with authority. Six hundred and fifty species get the full-page treatment, each with many color photographs, a concise description, range map and notes on flight, song, nesting, feeding and voice. (NAM54, $34.95)
 		  
Birdwatcher, The Life of Roger Tory Peterson  •  Elizabeth J. Rosenthal   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Enlivened with interviews and anecdotes, this entertaining biography captures the spirit of the pioneering naturalist and a generation of birders. (NAT151, $14.95)
 		  
Bug Zoo  •  Nick Baker   • NATURAL HISTORY • YOUNG READERS (Age 4-8)  •  This fun, illustrated guide to safely capturing, keeping, feeding and studying backyard bugs will appeal to children aged 5-8. Parents be warned: you may end up with a menagerie of creeping critters. (BST181, $12.99)
 		  
Cat  •  Katharine M. Rogers   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  A professor of English, who has also written about dogs, Katharine Rogers covers cross-cultural attitudes toward these beloved felines from their arrival in Egypt to the present in this illustrated history. (BST189, $19.95)
 		  
Chasing Neotropical Birds  •  Vera and Bob Thornton   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  A Neotropical sampler, featuring 116 color photographs of dazzling, rare and charming birds of Central and South America. (SAM76, $34.95)
 		  
Deadly Kingdom, The Book of Dangerous Animals  •  Gordon Grice   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  In this darkly funny narrative organized by animal group, amateur naturalist Grice mixes research of exotic species with personal anecdotes about pets and other familiar creatures. He includes nearly every animal that can pose a threat to humans, from worms and house cats to chimpanzees, bears and whales. (BST155, $27.00)
 		  
Dog  •  Susan McHugh   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Photographs, historic cartoons and paintings festoon this witty social history of man's best friend. (BST188, $19.95)
 		  
Essential Ornithology  •  Graham Scott   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Scott's concise, authoritative overview of the biology of birds includes chapters on evolution, physiology, development, migration, ecology and conservation. (BRD88, $55.00)
 		  
Insectopedia  •  Hugh Raffles   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Raffles packs a lifetime of study into this A-to-Z curio-cabinet of all things about insects. (BST156, $16.95)
 		  
Parrot  •  Paul Carter   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  An obvious enthusiast, Carter brings wit and scholarship to this spirited cultural history of the psittaciformes, quickly disponesing with the bilogy of the bird to discuss its relationshbip to people and role in art, hiostory and literature. (BRD91, $19.95)
 		  
Seabird in the Forest  •  Joan Dunning   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  In this exquisitely illustrated picture book for ages 7-10, Joan Dunning follows the surprising life of the marbled Murrelet, a tiny Pacific seabird which nests, not by the sea like its fellow alcids but hidden inland, high in the trees. (PNW296, $17.95)
 		  
Sibley Birds Eighteen Card Set  •  David Allen Sibley   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  From finches and hummingbirds to warblers and woodpeckers, this 18-card collection from the award-winning artist features exquisite watercolor illustrations of beloved birds. (BRD81, $24.95)
 		  
The Armchair Birder, Discovering the Secret Lives of Familiar Birds  •  John Yow   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Organized by season, these enjoyable short essays focus on the Cardinal, Pileated Woodpecker, Turkey and other birds of Yow's backyard or nearby Georgia woods. With black-and-white images from John J. Audubon's Birds of America. (BRD106, $20.00)
 		  
The Art of Bird Finding  •  Pete Dunne   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Director of the Cape May Bird Observatory, famous as a hawk watcher and equally fascinated by shorebirds and songbirds, Peter Dunne is an outstanding guide to how to have more luck in your search for birds. (BRD96, $14.95)
 		  
The Bird, A Natural History of Who Birds Are, Where They Came From, and How They Live  •  Colin Tudge   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Tudge (The Tree) covers everything you ever wondered about birds and much you never considered, from evolutionary roots to social interactions, and includes an "annotated cast list" of all known bird species and black and white illustrations throughout. (BST157, $17.00)
 		  
The Practical Naturalist  •  Dorling Kindersley   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Families will be inspired to explore the outdoors with this informative, illustrated guide to the natural world, chock-full of color illustrations, identification guides and short chapters on everything from insects and forests to conservation and cloud spotting. (NAT228, $19.95)
 		  
The Private Lives of Birds, A Scientist Reveals the Intricacies of Avian Social Life  •  Bridget Stutchbury   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Biologist Stutchbury's tales of adventure reveal, with drama and wit, why birds do what they do. (BRD89, $25.00)
 		  
The Singing Life of Birds, The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong  •  Donald E. Kroodsma   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  An account of a life in the field organized around an illuminating, personal analysis of the songs of 30 North American birds (with accompanying CD). With line drawings, tables, charts and sound spectrograms. (BRD22, $16.95)
 		  
The Whale  •  Philip Hoare   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  A deeply engaging meditation on all things whale. Philip Hoare saves his special love and attention for the sperm whale -- not only via a beautiful literary analysis of Moby Dick -- but also by indulging in a childhood fantasy and actually swimming with the whales in the Azores. (BST144, $15.99)
 		  
The Wisdom of Birds, An Illustrated History of Ornithology  •  Tim Birkhead   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Birkhead weaves folklore, science and tales in this beautifully illustrated popular survey of ornithology. (BRD70, $45.00)
 		  
Why Birds Sing, A Journey Through the Mystery of Bird Song  •  David Rothenberg   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Rothenberg, a jazz clarinetist and philosopher with a strong interest in the interconnectedness of things, weaves music, poetry and science in this intriguing series of essays on the meaning and pleasure of birdsong. This new edition comes with a 63-minute CD. (BRD23, $19.95)
 		  
Winged Sentinels, Birds and Climate Change  •  Cagan H. Sekercioglu   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  From penguins and puffins, to bowerbirds and bar-tailed godwits, the authors argue persuasively that birds are the bellwether of climate change. (BRD103, $40.00)
 		  
Bird Songs Bible, The Complete, Illustrated Reference for North American Birds  •  Les Beletsky   • FIELD GUIDE  •  Edited by Les Beletsky (Bird Songs, Backyard Bird Songs), this ingenious, oversized package includes full-page, full-color illustrations of the 750 breeding birds of North America are packaged along with state-of-the-art, push-button audio of birdsongs from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. (BRD83, $125.00)
 		  
Birds of Peru  •  Tom Schulenberg  •  Dan Stotz  •  John O'Neill  •  Dan Lane   • FIELD GUIDE  •  Gorgeously illustrated, this authoritative guide covers nearly 20% of the world's birds. (PRU55, $39.50)
 		  
Field Guide Birds of Brazil  •  Ber Van Perlo   • FIELD GUIDE  •  This comprehensive field guide features 187 beautiful full-color plates with 1796 species accounts, including a distribution map for each. (BZL75, $39.95)
 		  
Field Guide to the Songbirds of South America, The Passerines  •  Robert Ridgely  •  Guy Tudor   • FIELD GUIDE • NEW  •  Drawn from The Birds of South America, this field guide features Tudor's magnificent color plates, illustrating 1,500 species of songbirds, new color range maps and a succinct overview of habitat, distribution and abundance. (SAM140, $49.95)
 		  
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America  •  Jon Dunn   • FIELD GUIDE  •  A regional edition of the favorite National Geographic Guide to the Birds of North America. (USE444, $19.95)
 		  
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America  •  Jon Dunn   • FIELD GUIDE  •  From Alaska to Baja California, Nova Scotia and Florida, this guide is the veteran's choice for birding anywhere in the United States. Tabbed for easy access, the color range maps in this sixth edition are outstanding. (FG09, $27.95)
 		  
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America  •  Jon Dunn   • FIELD GUIDE  •  A copiously illustrated guide to every species west of and including the Rockies. (USW562, $19.95)
 		  
Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America  •  Roger Tory Peterson   • FIELD GUIDE  •  This revised combo edition of Peterson's classic field guides, published in celebration of the centennial of his birth, includes all new maps and digital enhancements to the master's original paintings. (NAM42, $26.00)
 		  
Sibley's Backyard Birds, Eastern North America  •  David Sibley   • FIELD GUIDE  •  All the common birds are illustrated in color on this poster, as attractive as it is useful. (USE523, $29.95)
 		  
Sibley's Backyard Birds, Western North America  •  David A. Sibley   • FIELD GUIDE  •  All the common birds are illustrated in color on this poster, as attractive as it is useful. (USW668, $29.95)
 		  
 
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