Abstract
AFTER the American Forces commenced operations among the Pacific Islands, the American Museum of Natural History was inundated with requests for a book on the birds of the region. There was, however, no work on the whole area published, although many papers had been written on the birds of the different groups of islands. Fortunately, a member of the staff had already made a special study of the species found in the Pacific and neighbouring areas. This was Dr. Ernst Mayr, and no one was more competent to write the present volume, since, in addition to his systematic studies, he has spent several years in New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands, and accordingly was familiar with many species in the field. The area covered by this volume comprises the groups of islands from Tonga in the south to the Mariana Islands in the north, and west as far as the Solomons.
Birds of the South-West Pacific
A Field Guide to the Birds of the Area between Samoa, New Caledonia and Micronesia. By Ernst Mayr. Pp. xx + 316 + 3 plates. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1945.) 3.75 dollars.
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Birds of the South-West Pacific. Nature 155, 654 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/155654a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/155654a0