SEA-BIRDS: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEA-BIRDS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC. By James Fisher and R.M. Lockley. New Naturalist No. 28.

1954 1st edition. 8vo (151 x 222mm). Ppxvi,320. B/w photograph plates, b/w line illustrations, maps and bibliography. Green buckram, spine titled in gilt.

There "are only about 250 true sea-birds in the world [and these include] some of the most numerous and well-adapted of living species, ranging from the magnificent albatrosses, with their powers of sail-planing, to the curious diving petrels; from the penguins to the auks; from the cormorants to the gulls and terns. ...[In the North Atlantic] about half the world's sea-bird species have been seen at one time or another". Chapters include; the North Atlantic Ocean - its structure and its sea-birds; evolution andthe North Atlantic sea-birds; Sea-bird numbers and man; what controls the numbers of sea-birds?; Sea-bird movements; navigation by sea-birds; Social and sexual behaviour; the tubenoses; The pelicans; the skuas; the gulls; Terns and skimmers; the auks; List of sea-birds of the North Atlantic and their distribution. A readable and authoritative work, of great practical use.