The New Zealand Descriptive Animal Dictionary

Forest and Bird, Volume 23, Issue 2, 1 May 1992, Page 47

The New Zealand Descriptive Animal Dictionary

Mark Bellingham

by Malcolm Foord Malcolm Foord’s animal dictionary is a valuable resource book for libraries, natural history researchers and schools. The book’s sub-title says it all: "The Common Names of the Animals, Native and Introduced, Large and Small, on the Land and in the Waters of New Zealand and her Outlying Islands, with a Short Description of Each". Scientific names are included in each description but not as headwords. Over 8,000 names — all known vertebrates and invertebrates — are listed in 500 pages, covering almost 4,000 species or subspecies. The descriptions are suc-

cinct and in plain English. In addition to his own extensive knowledge of New Zealand’s fauna Foord has drawn material from a wide variety of sources and these alone make a valuable bibliography of works on New Zealand animals. The only part of the dictionary that could be improved is the Maori names. These often differ between iwi, explaining the proliferation of names for some species. More recent work on Maori names for insects in northern New Zealand will add to this dictionary. But dictionaries are organic books. Their compilation is a monumental task (Foord spent 10 years on this one) and once started can always be added to. Foord published this dictionary himself. If you cannot find it in your bookshop it can be purchased directly from the author, 39 Park Street, Dunedin at a special price to Forest and Bird members of $29.50 plus postage of $4 (South Island) $5 (North Island).