The birds of Peninsular Malaysia /

This sixth bird book in the Oxford University "Images of Asia" series is apparently aimed at a popular audience and provides a bare introduction to some birds, at the family level, of western Malaysia. The text seems designed for grammar-school, or, at best, high-school level readers. About 300 species are treated briefly in the text, 24 color plates adequately portray 146 species, and another 35 species are shown in line drawings. This is definitely not an identification guide, and only a few species could be identified positively in the field using this book alone. The serious bird watcher, technician, or researcher will find next to nothing useful in the book. For such a small book, the price seems excessive. Not for academic audiences. S. W. Harris; Humboldt State University