THE BIRDS' WOODLAND: What Lives There

by Richard Farrar ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 23, 1976

The concept of niches is nicely particularized in Farrar's organized observations of a woodland's birds. Beginning with a hawk who swoops down on an ovenbird, then comparing the ovenbird to other small birds in the same area, Farrar shows how territory, different prey, and different hunting patterns help avoid conflict and make the summer woodland ""like a zoo with invisible cages."" There is even an unobtrusive aside on how the energy that plants get from the sun is passed on to the insects which feed the smaller birds--certainly about all the environmental context a book of this length could hope to cram in gracefully. Graceful too are Downey's sharp fine line drawings, though they function essentially as background and ignore what action Farrar reports.

Pub Date: June 23, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1976

Categories: NONFICTION