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National Geographic : 1964 Oct
Contents
he hobbled out and fluttered to the attack again. Three times I saved that bird. Finally I gave up, marveling at his tenacity. He would rather die than yield his territory with its storehouse of red holly berries. Song and Garden Birds of North America explains these territorial battles: After a male bird stakes out his claim to a home or feeding area, he defends it against all comers of his kind. And when he bursts into song at such times, he serves notice to trespassers: "This is my bailiwick. Keep out!" Not all songs are territorial warnings, how ever. Some advertise for a mate; some are calls made during flight, nesting, or feeding. To humans, though, the liquid language of birds brings pure pleasure. I wanted our new book to capture this lyric wealth-not only to present the bird kingdom in pictures and words but to serenade us with its melodies. Now I am proud to report that Song and Garden Birds is just such a "sing ing book." A pocket in the back contains a record album with songs of 70 birds. Perhaps you'll recognize some of the singers, such as the robin, bluebird, and meadowlark-east ern or western. Of others, you'll recall only having thrilled to them from afar. Six double-faced records, playing for more than an hour, take you on a dozen cross country bird walks, from the North Woods, 554 New England, the Carolinas, and the Creole country to Midwest meadows, the Rockies, and California. Thrushes, sparrows, warblers, wrens-these and many others greet your ear. As each bird sings, you are told the page in Song and Garden Birds where the species is described. Dr. Peter Paul Kellogg, Director of Cornell University's Library of Natural Sounds, gives the commentary. Classic Presentation of 327 Birds Throughout its three-quarters of a century, your Society has traveled widely in the world of feathered creatures. Its findings, published in numerous magazine articles and in book form, have won wide acclaim. Our famed two-volume Book of Birds was edited by my father, Gilbert H. Grosvenor, and Alex ander Wetmore. The book was first printed in 1932, and later editions were required to meet members' demands. Long out of print, it is a collector's item today. Song and Garden Birds of North America continues this great tradition and makes full use of high-speed color photography, not practical at that earlier time. In developing the book, we sought to present the birds as they exist in their natural settings. We want ed you to be able to look up a given bird quickly, to see it portrayed in authentic color, so that you could identify it at once, and to
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