South Pacific birds

extinct, or are seriously threatened.John has made a special point of searching for some of these during his field trips, knowing in advance that he was probably doomed to disappointment but unwilling to con- cede the loss of a species until he had done his personal best to hnd it.I need hardly say, then, that much of the information in the present book is rooted in John duPont's own held experience.He has also studied the collections of Pacihc birds in all the major museums of North America, as well as in some of those abroad, and has uncovered any number of island records here published for the hrst time.In writing the text, he has broadened the format used in Philippine Birds by adding some ecological and life history notes to the species accounts, thus in- creasing the potential usefulness of the book.Comparison of George Sandstrom's earliest bird paintings in Philippine Birds with those in this book clearly demonstrates his impressive growth as an ornithological artist.His illustrations for South Pacific Birds should ensure the book's value as a held guide, while the meticulous documentation of nomenclatural and distributional data provides an important reference work for the research ornithologist.