The natural history of the Bahamas : a field guide /

In truth, only a tenth of this book is natural history, while the remaining 90 percent offers a listing of 549 species, with their 703 associated color photographs. The species descriptions are short, and mostly written as aids to identification, rather than providing an overview of the natural history of a species, detailing how the particular animal, plant, or fungal organism lives. This is a disappointing feature, but perhaps reflects a necessary compromise given that there are 360 species of birds, alone, known from the Bahamas, while only 162 of them are represented here. There are thousands of species that could attract a traveler's eye that are not mentioned. The challenge is to include the most common species and whet the appetite for more knowledge without frustrating the user with misidentifications or, worse, not mentioning the day-changing creature that, once found, prompted the frantic search through a field guide. Since it is doubtful that a library book itself will motivate a trip to the Bahamas, librarians will need to decide if there is any better source of information for those interested in what lives on the 29 large islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets of the Bahamas. Still, no book could be more colorful than this. Summing Up: Optional. All readers. --George C. Stevens, formerly, University of New Mexico