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Contributions to the History Of Australasian Ornithology.

Article Excerpt
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALASIAN ORNITHOLOGY. Edited by William E. Davis Jr., Harry E Recher, Walter E. Boles, and Jerome A. Jackson. Nuttall Ornithological Club, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. 2008: vii + 481 pages. ISBN: 1-877973-43-2. $50.00 (hardbound only).--This volume on the history of ornithology in Australasia is an outgrowth of, and published concurrently with, continuing volumes on the history of North American ornithology. Like the North American volumes, it presents a wide-ranging series of topics written by people closely involved with the institutions or projects treated. North American audiences will welcome this overview.

The lead chapter by Clemency Fisher is a fascinating study of naturalist John Gilbert's years in Australia as a collector with and for John Gould. Gould's multi-volume works on both birds (1840-1848) and mammals (18451863) of Australia are considered the foundation publications on those animals for Australia, and John Gilbert's collections provided Gould with many of the specimens he needed for his publications.

Fisher carefully and tenaciously followed Gilbert's path through not only relatively settled southeastern Australia but also on his pioneering collecting trips, during which he visited every one of Australia's present states. Using his surviving notebooks and numerous other sources, she has traced what is known of his life and collections and where...