Birds of Canada: Field Guide

W.J. Keith is a retired professor of English at the University of Toronto and author A Sense of Style: Studies in the Art of Fiction in English-Speaking Canada.

This bird book contains details of 524 species, including all the birds
regularly to be found in Canada plus most vagrants and accidentals, and
devotes a full page to each species. The illustrations (one per bird,
unless there are distinct differences in the sexes) are derived from
colour photographs, and the distinctive features are indicated. There
are succinct notes (generally) on song, behaviour, breeding, nesting,
population, and conservation. The flight pattern is indicated, as are
the shape and location of nests. Distribution maps cover the United
States as well as Canada. When there are similar species with which a
bird might be confused, these are also illustrated and the differences
described.

All this sounds excellent—but there is a price to be paid. First, for
a field guide it is extraordinarily heavy—decidedly heavier, for
instance, than the National Geographic Society’s Birds of North
America. No information is given about the author (who must surely have
had assistants in the field), and one gets the distinct impression that
it is an American book adapted for the Canadian market (an “Editor,
Canada” is listed as well as a “Senior Editor,” and it is
described as a “Canadian Edition”).

And there are other disadvantages. The symbols for nest identification
and habitat, as well as the illustrations and print for the “Similar
Birds” sections, are so small as to pose a problem for aging eyes.
Moreover, the colouring of the photographic reproduction is not always
quite accurate—in particular, that of the gray catbird is deceptively
light. Above all, each page is so packed with information that it is,
frankly, not a particularly attractive book to consult. Despite the
photographs, the bird illustrations come across as scientific specimens
rather than things of living beauty.

Personally, I plan to use this book for consultation at home, but take
a lighter guide into the field.