Handbook of Rare Birds of the World

London: Collins. Very Good/Very Good. 1988. Hard Cover. 8vo 0002198355 Dust jacket complete, unclipped. Original cloth boards with bright gilt titling on spine. No ownership marks. 32 colour plates and over 50 line drawings help bring the birds to life. 256 pages clean and tight. The Dodo and the Passenger Pigeon have become symbols of man's destruction of animal species. The continuing encroachment of man into the fragile ecosystems of the world implies that they will not be the last birds to disappear. Drawing on the comprehensive information produced by the ICBP in their fight for bird conservation, the eminent conservationist, Guy Mountfort, has produced a fascinating and frightening account of the 1,000 species of birds at most risk from extinction. Guy Mountfort not only highlights the predicament of each species but in so doing provides a telling account of habitat destruction throughout the world. Each zoogeographical region is dealt with separately, with each species described in detail. The description not only covers the current status of each bird, but also details the species's historical distribution, the major reasons for its decline and the measures currently employed to bring it back from the brink of extinction. .