Catesby's Birds of Colonial America (Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern Studies)

With this lovely and informative volume, Alan Feduccia preserves the pathbreaking work of Mark Catesby, the English naturalist and illustrator who founded natural history and bird art in America. First published by UNC Press in 1985, the book features all 109 bird illustrations, 20 color plates, and the entire text from Catesby’s pioneering Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahamas. Annotating Catesby’s writings from a modern perspective, Feduccia discusses the perception of each species during the Colonial period, comments on its habits, and compares Catesby’s observations with those of such other early naturalists as John White, John Lawson, Alexander Wilson, and John James Audubon.

Alan Feduccia is S. K. Heninger Professor Emeritus and former chair of the Department of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His books include The Age of Birds, The Origin and Evolution of Birds, and Birds of Colonial Williamsburg.