British Larks, Pipits and Wagtails by Eric Simms, Harper Collins, pp
320, 拢14.99 pbk
For nearly half a century the Collins 鈥楴ew Naturalist鈥� series has aimed
to 鈥榠nterest the general reader in the wildlife of Britain by recapturing
the endearing spirit of the old naturalists鈥�. This tradition has been ably
upheld by Eric Simms. British Larks, Pipits and Wagtails is certainly a
detailed reference book, but it is also the sort of volume that you can
read and enjoy, a combination almost as rare as a British Richard鈥檚 pipit.
Richard鈥檚 is one of 11 species of pipits discussed in detail, though
like all the rarer vagrants, it does not warrant a chapter to itself. Only
the British breeding birds, and the regular migrants, get such treatment.
These rather longer essays could be dull reading if it were not for the
author鈥檚 ability to enliven the texts with his own extensive field observations.
Simms does have extensive experience of the great majority of the birds
he describes, and his lively accounts bring the birds to life. Take his
observations of shore larks as an example, made on a bitter February day
at Blakeney, north Norfolk: 鈥楢n Arctic gale was in full force with a blizzard
blasting great drifts of snow across the sound under an ebony sky. A flock
of 150 snow buntings and another of a score of shore larks were being tossed
about in the driving snow-flurries . . . 鈥�
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Such attractive writing blends happily with descriptions of the habits
and ecology of each bird. You learn, for example, about the specialised
requirements that distance rock pipits from water pipits, or even short-toed
larks from lesser short-toed larks. The introductory chapter, 鈥楾he Family
Tree鈥�, is as wide ranging and instructive as the concluding postscript is
thought provoking, though the latter has more to do with the future of our
planet than it does with the families Alaudidae and Moticillidae.
Simms has continued the New Naturalist tradition ably in this, his fourth
volume in the series, but the support of his publisher is less praiseworthy.
There are only four colour plates in a book that costs 拢30 for the
hardback 鈥� hardly a bargain. (The plates depict all the species described,
and are attractively painted by Norman Arlott). There is a profusion of
line drawings and black and white photographs, many of which are excellent,
but some are so badly reproduced, such as the picture of the pechora pipit,
that they were hardly worth including. But do not let such minor criticisms
stop you from buying this book, which is a most welcome addition to the
birdwatcher鈥檚 bookshelf.
David Tomlinson is a wildlife writer with a specialist interest in birds.
