Published Resources Details
Book
- Title
- An Australian bird book: a complete guide to the identification of the Australian species
- Imprint
- Whitcomb and Tombs, Melbourne, 1911, 200 pp
- Format
- Contains
- Image
- Description
6th edition, revised and enlarged published 1926 [copy held in the Encyclopedia library]; 9th edition published 1958.
Illustrations from Specimens (318) in the National Museum. Melbourne; the balance mostly from Specimens in the Entomological Museum, C. French (59), and in the collections of A. Coles, Taxidermist (35), C. F. Cole and D. Le Souef. Twenty-two birds were photographed from Gould's " Birds of Australia," five from drawings specially prepared by C. C. Brittlebank, the well-known naturalist-artist, and one from the Report of the Horn Expedition.
Illustrations in Supplement from Drawings (51) by Mr. A. T. Mochridge.
Photos by Ralph L. Miller.
Engravings by Patterson Shugq & Co., from Paintings by Miss Ethel M. Paterson.
- Abstract
Extracts from the Introduction by Frank Tate, Director of Education, Victoria, March 1911:
"Australia has suffered greatly from phrase-makers. There is still much popular belief that our trees are shadeless, our rivers are waterless, our flowers are scentless, our birds are songless. Oddities in our flora and fauna have attracted the notice of superficial observers, and a preference for epigrammatic perfection, rather than for truthful generalisation, has produced an abundance of neatly-expressed half-truths, which have been copied into popular literature, and even into school books."
"But all this is being rapidly changed. In the elementary schools Nature-study is steadily improving, and children are being given an eye for, and an interest in, the world of Nature around them. Our school books are now written from the Australian standpoint, and more use can, therefore, be made of the child's everyday experience. Field Naturalists' clubs are doing much to extend the area of specialised Nature-study, and their members are giving valuable assistance to the schools by taking part in the programs for Arbor Day, Bird Day, and the like. The growing interest in the Australian fauna and flora is further evidenced by the frequent reservations by Government of desirable areas as national parks and sanctuaries for the preservation of Australian types. Last, but not least, is the production by capable Nature students of special books on some form of Nature-study, such as this Bird Book by Dr. Leach."
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Related Published resources
isRelated
- Leach, J. A., Australian nature studies: a book of reference for those interested in nature study (Melbourne: Critchley Parker, 1922), 501 pp. Details