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Fw: [FLBIRDS] 4th ed. of National Geographic Society Field Guide



this was on floridabirds for those interested in a review of the new 4th
edition of national geo.  i'm on several birding listservs and i don't
recall any buzz about a new edition. must be working too much.

lee van malssen
chapel hill, nc
northern chatham cty
leescats@mindspring.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Barbara Passmore" <bkpass@BELLSOUTH.NET>
To: <FLORIDABIRDS-L@LISTS.UFL.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2002 10:59 PM
Subject: [FLBIRDS] 4th ed. of National Geographic Society Field Guide


> Hi,
>
> My copy came in the mail today.  On the cover, the background color is
> changed from white to black, words changed on the "seal" to "fully revised
&
> updated with 800 Range Maps and Quick-Find index for the field."  Added is
> the news that there is an introduction by Dr. John W. Fitzpatrick,
Director
> Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
>
> So right there, I stop myself and get out the easy way.  I wrote Joe
Morlan
> and asked him if I could send you his report.  He said, no problem; thanks
> for writing.
>
> So here it is:
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 16:34:24 -0800
> From: Joseph Morlan <jmorlan@CCSF.ORG>
> To: BIRDCHAT@listserv.arizona.edu
> Subject: [BIRDCHAT] National Geographic 4th edition
>
> Today I received my copy of the 4th edition of the National Geographic
> Field Guide to the Birds of North America.  Here are my impressions on
> a very quick review.
>
> There is no change in the page numbering.  The advertising flyers
> suggested that the book had been reorganized.  It hasn't; it's
> basically the same book.
>
> There is no change in the boldface headings within the text.  The
> advertising flyers displayed text lacking these headings.  I think the
> highlighted headings make it easier to find information in the text
> and am pleased this feature has been retained.
>
> There are only seven new plates, all significantly improved.  However
> at least one of these plates (godwits) was included with the last
> printing of the 3rd edition and in some recent foreign language
> editions.  I don't know if any of the other new plates have been
> published elsewhere.  The new plates are opposite pages: 36, 54, 56,
> 168, 230, 298, 382.
>
> I felt that many of the plates in the 4th edition were rendered more
> sharply and with better color.  E.g. the junco plate seems to have the
> colors changed slightly and the images are crisper.  I'm not sure how
> much of this was intentional and how much was an artifact of the
> printing.
>
> A few other plates have been retouched or slightly modified.  The
> immature Northern Harrier has been retouched so it now looks a
> different, more yellowish-clay color and the streaks on the chest have
> been reduced.  The result still looks very little like a Northern
> Harrier and this plate remains a disappointment.
>
> Gunnison Sage-Grouse has been added opposite page 138, however, I
> believe this was also done in late printings of the 3rd edition.
> Names have been updated including Eared Quetzal and Wilson's Snipe,
> but the scientific name of Wilson's Snipe is incorrect.
>
> A one-page quick-find index has been added to the back of the index
> section.  Space was made by reducing the font size for the rest of the
> index, so the new quick index appears on page 476 which was the last
> index page in the 3rd edition.  Unfortunately there are still four
> pages of credits and acknowledgements following, so it's not easy to
> get at the quick-find index all that quickly.  I think it should have
> been placed on the inside back cover which still offers advertising
> for three other somewhat related books.
>
> I know the many of the maps have been redone but I have not made a
> full comparison.  I noticed the Glaucous Gull is no longer wintering
> out in the middle of Hudson Bay.  The color scheme and most of the map
> outlines are identical.
>
> The third edition says on its cover "Completely Revised & Updated with
> 80 new species."  The fourth says "Fully revised & Updated with 800
> Range Maps and Quick-Find index for the Field."  Clearly the third
> edition was a major revision while the fourth is not.
>
> I've been teaching birding classes using this book as the main text
> since the first edition and the new fourth edition is a pleasant
> improvement which I will continue to adopt for my classes.
>
> --
> Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044: mailto:jmorlan@ccsf.org
> Fall Birding Classes start Sept 4: http://fog.ccsf.org/~jmorlan/
> California Bird Records Committee: http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/
>
> end of forwarded message.
>
> There was some follow up correspondence on BirdChat  to the effect that
the
> Latin name for  both Wilson's Snipe and Common Snipe erroneously remain
the
> same, Gallinago gallinago.  Also  I found Godwit is not included in the
> quick-find index (we had a Hudsonian recently at Tallahassee and I wanted
to
> check that one especially).
>
> --
> Barbara Passmore
> Valdosta GA
>
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