Birds of the West African Town and Garden, by John H. Elgood

Birds of the West African Town and Garden, by John H. Elgood. Longmans, Green & Co. 3rd. impression, London, United Kingdom 1968

The purpose of Birds of the West African Town and Garden by John H. Elgood is to enable you to learn something of the common birds that, because they are relatively fearless of man, you are likely to meet without going far afield.

John H. Elgood  

In particular, chiefly through the coloured plates, it aims at helping you to identify and name these birds. Why should we trouble to know the names of the birds? There are two main reasons. Only when we know the exact name of a bird can we find out, from books or by asking others, what is already known about it. Secondly, only when we know the identity of a bird can our own observations help to extend the common pool of knowledge. Before we start identifying birds we should first appreciate their relationship with other animals, their great variety, and know enough about their structure to be able to describe them accurately. From the zoological point of view birds are described as vertebrate animals (i.e. animals with backbones) belonging to the Class Aves (Latin for birds). The other Classes of Vertebrates are Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fishes. Invertebrates include a wide variety of animal life including insects, worms, snails and jellyfish. The birds are first subdivided into two major groups: the Ratitae or Running Birds; and the Carinatae or Flying Birds. The Ratitae include a very small number of forms, the Ostrich being the only African representative. The further classification of the Carinatae is a very difficult matter, outside the scope of this book. Ornithologists, as bird students are called, do not always agree among themselves over the details. But broadly speaking the form of the beak, adapted to obtaining different kinds of food, and the form of the legs and feet, adapted to different uses such as running, swimming and perching, are regarded as being of paramount importance in classification. Other features of importance include the arrangement of the feathers, the form of the voice apparatus, the structure of the skull and the nesting habits. A recent classification gives 22 Orders for the carinate birds of the world, divided into 162 Families and comprising nearly 9,000 different distinct kinds or species.[...]

The West African Nature Handbooks Series

The West African Nature Handbooks was a series of nontechnical guides designed to encourage and stimulate an interest in the plants and animals of West Africa. Although written and edited by experts, they were intended for the non-specialist and technical terminology was avoided. The clarity of the text and the accuracy of the beautiful illustrations enabled easy identification of the species described.

This is an excerpt from Birds of the West African Town and Garden, by John H. Elgood.

Title: Birds of the West African Town and Garden
Author: John H. Elgood
Illustrator: Ernest C. Mansell
Series: West African Nature Handbooks
Publisher: Longmans, Green & Co
3rd. impression, London, United Kingdom 1968
Softcover, 14 x 20 cm, 66 pages, 20 colour plates