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NATURE Birds of the Eastern Forest: 1 by J. Fenwick Lansdowne and John A. Livingston (McClelland and Stewart Ltd., 231, $17.50), the first of two volumes on the subject, is in every way a worthy successor to their previous beautiful work, Birds of the Northern Forest, which appeared in 1966. A pattern of beauty, of a commonsense yet stimulating and informing approach, which could reasonably be a model for other popular books on nature, is characteristic of both these works. It gives to them a special worth that all who possess or see them quickly appreciate. Since this volume deals with the region of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Valley, so familiar to the majority of Canadians, it may have an even greater appeal than its predecessor. The integrity, accuracy, and moving beauty of Lansdowne's paintings, reproduced in magnificent style, would make any book worthwhile. The plunging dive of his nighthawk in pursuit of an insect, the serenity of his cliff swallow, the coot hastily fleeing its nest, the pensive ringbilled gull, the haughty barn owl- these and many others are all tributes to the skill and sensitivity of one of Canada's finest artists, one in whom this country has every right to take profound pride. John Livingston's text, moreover, is a fitting accompaniment to this fine artistry. We are told that the aims have been "to proVide a number of selected glimpses into a world that is not ours, but one that we can freely enter anywhere, any time ... to illuminate ... the fact of birds in their beauty and diversity, and to illustrate some of the simple pleasures and more lasting intellectual challenges that are so readily available to us in this world." Livingston has admirably fulfilled these aims in a clear, intimate, and personal style, telling us those things about the selected birds that people who read popular books want to know. This is, of course, not a book to take afield but one to keep at home and to treasure. Artist, author, and publisher are all to be deeply congratulated upon such an excellent production, for this is really an outstanding book. 1 Live With Birds, by Hance Roy Ivor (Ryerson Press, xix, 172, $6.95), is Roy Ivor's first book though he has recorded his experiences with birds in papers and journals, including The National Geographic, for many years. During upwards of forty years Mr. Ivor has nursed, studied, and lived on the most intimate terms with numbers of native and some exotic birds at his secluded woodland home at Erindale, Ontario. 422 LETI'ERS IN CANADA Operating under permits from both the federal and provincial wildlife authorities he has been able to observe native birds in captivity in a way that, save for those who have to deal with game birds and waterfowl, few observers in this country have done. Many, if not most, of his birds have become in some sense "pets," but in this there has been deliberate design since, as Hugh Halliday points out in his interesting foreword, Ivor is convinced that "birds are like people. You must become acquainted with them in order to know them, especially their confidential ways," ways which are never revealed by wild birds "because of the element of fear" that is always present. This book, like most of Mr. Ivor's articles, is devoted to a discussion of the more "human" attitudes of birds, as he has noted them in his many years of close association. He is particularly concerned with the question of reasoning power in birds and provides some provocative indications that such a capacity may exist. His assurance about this point, as well as about others that he discusses, arises from his belief that when you are on firstname terms with birds you are truly able to find about such things in a way that is impoSSible when you just see the birds flit by in woods and fields. This very personal account is profusely illustrated with photographs, SOme coloured, mostly black and white, taken for the most part by the author's friends and visitors but with a few of his own taking. These certainly...

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