"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Most have done so through more or less natural causes--through disease, say, or widespread climatic change. In historic times, though, many species have been hastened to extinction through human actions, inadvertent and deliberate. In the case of the Hawaiian rail, Fuller writes in this catalog of birds that have disappeared since 1600, the introduction of alien species, such as the mongoose, domestic cat, and rat, was probably to blame. Rats, too, killed off the Lord Howe Island white-eye when a ship accidentally ran aground there in 1918. The Carolina parakeet disappeared a few years later, owing, perhaps, to the destruction of its forest habitat and its beautiful plumage, highly prized by hunters. Mosquitoes carried on other ships felled many other island species. And so on. Curiously, Fuller writes, the usual-suspect agents of extinction--hunting, say, or egg collecting--have had a smaller effect on vulnerable bird species than have changes in the environment wrought by humans and their "accompanying menagerie."
Fuller's book makes for a sobering obituary, and one of particular interest to environmentalists engaged in habitat preservation and restoration. --Gregory McNamee
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Condition: Very Good. Book is in Used-VeryGood condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain very limited notes and highlighting. Seller Inventory # 0198508379-2-3
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Good. Seller Inventory # 020870
Book Description Hard covers, dust jacket. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st edition. Scarcely used. 398 pp. Inscribed to Gordon Reid PLS by his wife. Weight: 1.0 Language: English. Seller Inventory # 36634
Book Description Condition: As New. 398, col illus. 280x210mm. HB. Fine copy, as new. An absorbing study of the world's recently extinct bird species. Combines scientific accuracy with a lively and readable style. Nearly all species illustrated with colour plates from archival sources, including the work of Audubon, Keulemans and Lear. [9780198508373]. Seller Inventory # S56802
Book Description Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition as such. Light shelfwear. ; Half title page dedicated and signed by the author. High quality and lavish illustrations and plates throughout. ; 21.5 x 28 x 3 cm; 400 pages; Signed by Author Hardcover (blindstamped with gilt to spine). Seller Inventory # 82468
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Since 1600 some 80 bird species have become extinct. The author has drawn on a wide range of sources for his accounts of these birds, their habits and demise, with evidence of preserved specimens brought to life by the eye-witness accounts of early travellers and explorers. Their stories are sometimes tantalisingly slight: isolated sightings of a single bird may be the only evidence that a species ever existed. By contrast, the expeditions of Nineteenth Century naturalists are often well documented and their descriptions accompanied by detailed drawings and paintings. In more recent cases our knowledge about an extinct species can be so extensive that even the precise time and place of death of its last surviving member is recorded. Virtually all of the species documented here are illustrated with colour plates from archival sources, including the work of such acknowledged masters as Audubon, Keulemans and Lear. These artists often had the advantage of working from fresh specimens or even from living birds, and besides its beauty their work is a primary source of scientific knowledge in its own right. Where no appropriate picture exists, new paintings have been produced especially for the book. The stories of these birds are sometimes fantastic, often touching and humorous, but ultimately sad. Extinct Birds is a fascinating record of those species of birds which have been unable to adapt and survive, and a timely reminder of the human capacity to change the environment for the worse. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR004373509
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: no dj. Extinct Birds. Book. Seller Inventory # N2405