Dictionary of wild N.Z.

Press, 8 February 1986, Page 20

Dictionary of wild N.Z.

New Zealand in the Wild. By Stephen Barnett. Collins, 1985. 128 pp. Illustrations. $19.95 (paperback). (Reviewed by lan G. McLean) For the first time in New Zealand there is a book which squashes all of our wildlife, native and introduced, between two covers. No more cupboards full of field guides and coffee table volumes; it is all here in a remarkably concise softback book. The format is dictionary style. The three native and introduced frogs fit conveniently on to one double page, so all are easy to find. The various lizards — about 40 in all — are grouped under scientific names. Naultinus and Heterophilus may seem a bit hard to remember, but this is the only sensible way of organising these little-known animals.

On to the birds, and here old favourites such as kakapo or gannet are quickly found in alphabetical order. Ordering is occasionally confusing; for example all ducks are under “duck,” the parakeets are listed together, but the parrots are listed under their common names (kea, kaka, etc.). Cross-referencing is given if you did not realise that a scaup was a duck.

All the reasonably common mammals are represented, usually in

scientific groupings (deer, weasels, rodents, etc.). As with the amphibians, the small number of species makes each easy to find. Leafing through a dictionary may seem akin to watching paint dry, but in this case the use of an attractive format and lots of colour photos make browsing a pleasure. A fault with some recently published volumes on birds is that in attempting to be complete, they include a large number of species which are rarely (or never!) sighted. Here, most of these species have been simply noted, or left out. This is a book where you really are likely to have seen the bird in the photograph. The text does not aim to be complete, but provides notes which augment the photographs.

Unfortunately a few typing and labelling errors (for example the eastern and crimson rosella parakeets have been switched) detract from the over-all quality. A serious omission is the absence of common Maori names for those species listed under their English names. This is an excellent gift for the young naturalist, or for family reference. Even the experts will

appreciate having everything within one cover.