Woodland Birds : 52

This study of British woodlands - both coniferous and broadleaved, natural and planted - and their varied bird life is perhaps one of the most engaging books to appear in the New Naturalist series. Eric Simms first considers the general environment of trees - the background to any study of woodland birds - and the origins and history of the British and Irish woodlands and their birds from Pliocene times to the present day.

He then considers the nature of a 'woodland bird'; the bird communities supported by the most important tree species; types of woodland or marginal habitats; problems of woodland bird populations and changing environment; the role of woodland bird song and the place of birds in modern forestry.

The book concludes with an invaluable species-by-species account of British woodland birds, giving details, for each, of its British and European distribution and of its status and habitats within the British Isles. A book of absorbing interest to bird-watchers throughout the country.