Frank Carlson Library

Birds and bird lore provide a fascinating window onto our social and cultural history, and can tell us much about our changing relationship with the British landscape, our people and society. We Brits love our birds. They hold a special place in our hearts - whether it's the sound of birdsong on a spring morning, the sight of a Barn Owl hunting on a summer's evening, or a Robin perched on our garden spade. In this book, Stephen Moss focusses on some...

In these delightful meditations, biologist and bird lover Richard Cannings weaves stories of his personal encounters with birds into fascinating descriptions of their behavior, anatomy, and evolution. He muses over the meadowlarks' ability to hide their nests so completely that he has seen only two in a lifetime spent searching for them; the trumpeter swan, as picky as a two-year old, devouring potatoes and carrots but turning up its beak at Brussels...

The late Charlotte Hilton Green was an early and influential champion of the Tar Heel state's natural environment, and her popular weekly column, 'Out-of-Doors in Carolina,' appeared in the Raleigh News and Observer for forty-two years (1932-74). A classic in the field of popular nature writing, Birds of the South was originally published by UNC Press in 1933, preceding by a year Roger Tory Peterson's landmark volume, A Field Guide to the Birds. In...

British Game ranges beyond the strict legal interpretation of game and is full of interesting details about the birds and beasts that should interest sportsmen. Mr. Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald is the editor of The Field. He is also a considerable naturalist in his own right. It will be a simple matter for the reader to determine this for himself, for at every page he will discover the original observations and personal opinions of the writer. Mt. Vesey-Fitzgerald...

What did we know about birds a thousand years ago, and how has our understanding developed? 'A History of Ornithology' offers a complete history of birdwatching in Britain, a classic for every nature lover's bookshelf. Today there is a huge interest in birdwatching as a hobby, and over the years amateur birdwatchers have contributed enormously to our understanding of the birds around us. At the same time, ornithology has developed as a science - in...

Bird watchers everywhere dream of a landscape filled with berry-laden branches, nesting spots among twining vines, and birds crowding their feeding stations. Let Backyard Birding show you how to lay out the welcome mat for your feathered friends by considering all of their needs, including year-round water, food, and shelter. Whether you're looking to create a hummingbird garden, install a water feature, create perches for birds, or simply let a corner...

A superb success as a bird, combining great speed, aeronautical grace, and fearlessness...inhabitant of wild places, inaccessible cliffs, and skyscrapers...worldwide dweller, trans-equatorial migrant, and docile captive-the peregrine falcon stands alone among all others of its kind. Perhaps this is why so many varied people rushed to its aid when it faced decimation by pesticide poisoning. In this personal and highly entertaining memoir, Jim Enderson...

With less than twenty species worldwide and only four British and Irish species, the grouse is surprisingly well known. Its habitats are diverse and relatively remote - ranging from deep forests, through open moorland, to Scotland's highest peaks. 'Grouse: The Natural History of British and Irish Species' covers four of the most emblematic species of our upland regions. Collectively they have the most fascinating life histories of any bird group,...

At sixteen, Kenn Kaufman dropped out of the high school where he was student council president and hit the road, hitching back and forth across America, from Alaska to Florida, Maine to Mexico. Maybe not all that unusual a thing to do in the seventies, but what Kenn was searching for was a little different: not sex, drugs, God, or even self, but birds. A report of a rare bird would send him hitching nonstop from Pacific to Atlantic and back again....

Hummingbirds have always held popular appeal, with their visual brilliance, extraordinary flight dexterity, jewel-like color, and remarkably small size. This is the first book to profile all 338 known species, from the Saw-billed Hermit to the Scintillant Hummingbird. Every bird is shown life-size in glorious full-color photographs. Every species profile includes a flight map and key statistics, as well as information about behavior, plumage, and...