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Johnsgard, Paul A. Earth, Water and Sky: A Naturalist's Stories and Sketches (Corrie Herring Hooks Series)
University of Texas Press 1999 029274059X / 9780292740594 Paperback Near fine n/a Paperback
New. Near fine in publisher's decorated wrappers. Available in our UK premises for prompt dispatch worldwide.Paul Johnsgard, a well-known ornithologist and student of bird behavior, especially of migratory waterfowl, is a native son of Nebraska, the setting for many of the essays that make up this small collection. There, above a reservoir called Keystone Lake, he has for years observed the avifauna of the Great Plains--nearly 300 species. "Here no radio stations blare out the most recent results of meaningless sports events, few newspapers ever manage to find their way to this outpost of civilization, and no traffic noises confound the senses," he writes. Instead, he is left to ponder the graceful flight of terns, the meaning of a dead turkey vulture. Offering homespun lessons in conservation biology, Johnsgard takes his readers into the lives of cranes, quails, ducks, pheasants, plovers, geese, curlews, and other birds, for all of which he feels an evident affection. He extends that care to Nebraska's fields and watercourses as well, offering a fine hymn of praise to the Niobrara River, a place only recently made safe from commercial overdevelopment and ecological destruction. His little book is the perfect glovebox companion for anyone doing a little birdwatching in this corner of the world--and for anyone interested in good natural history writing. --Gregory McNamee ... Not stories after all but brief, accessible essays, these instructive writings by ornithologist Johnsgard (a professor at the University of Nebraska) cover the lives, behaviors and habitats of many North American birds, from "The Tree Quail of Mexico" to "The Elusive Musk Duck." (Some first appeared in the magazine Natural History.) The intriguing lead essay describes the collective, synchronized mating dances of grouse, performed in arena-like spaces called "leks," which pose a Darwinian puzzle: why would sexual selection favor a system where males "perform the same displays in exactly the same ways?" Other essays cock an ear for quails' complex duets, distinguish and explain "the evolution of the train of the peacock" and "the even more wonderful ball-and-socket" tail designs of the Great Argus pheasant, and lay out facts about the bustard, the world's heaviest flying bird. Johnsgard's expert knowledge of waterfowl is apparent on every page; he neither talks down to his readers nor assumes technical knowledge. (The titular "sketches" are simply careful drawings of birds.) In the tradition of Konrad Lorenz, Johnsgard often ties neat facts about birds to current theories about the evolution of animal behavior. Sociobiological parallels between pheasants and human beings are, however, mercifully absent. Instead, Johnsgard injects personal asides, describing his rural upbringing in a quick preface and detailing the beautiful (and, often, endangered) habitats where his fascinating avians flourish. Literate bird-watchers will enjoy the details; readers of modern biological essays (Stephen Jay Gould's, say) will find Johnsgard's eminently worthwhile. 25 b&w drawings. (Aug.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Price:
3.03 GBP
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Johnsgard, Paul A. Ruddy Ducks & Other Stifftails: Their Behavior and Biology
University of Oklahoma Press 1996 0806127996 / 9780806127996 Hardcover Fine Fine Hardcover
New. Fine in publisher's cloth in like dust jacket. Available in our UK premises for prompt dispatch worldwide.An introduction to the morphology, behavior, and ecology of the ruddy duck and its relatives including the black-headed duck, the masked duck, the maccoa, and the Argentine and Australian blue-billed. Johnsgard (biological sciences, U. of Nebraska-Lincoln
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12.41 GBP
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