The Birdwatcher鈥檚 Companion to North American Birdlife by Christopher W. Leahy, Princeton University Press, 拢26.95/$39.50, ISBN 0691092974 Reviewed by Adrian Barnett
ORDERING ornithology alphabetically, Birdwatcher鈥檚 Companion combines the quintessential with the arcane. Covering, in delightful style, an encyclopedic range of subjects from breeding times, behaviour and brilliant birding localities, to chlamydiosis, ornithomancy and xanthochromism, its key facts, curiosities, lists and lore make it the essential adjunct to field guide and binoculars for anyone serious about North American birds.