Pat Scott wrote:

> I have had the same problem with many species when using the National
> Geographic guide. I'm glad to hear it's not just me!

I recently read the introduction to this guide and noticed that the skins
used as models for the illustrations are from only a few museums - NONE of
which are anywhere near the northwestern U.S.

Illustrations for even the common species seem to not represent us very
well - for instance, the Song Sparrows I see are all much darker than the
morphna (sp?) illustrations.

These criticisms aside, this is by far the best field guide I have seen!
Friends who I've coerced into buying this guide have all shown greater
enthusiasm in their birding, and I'm willing to bet it's because they are
able to identify birds much more confidently with this guide than the other
ones on the market.


--
Michael Patrick - Staff Engineer
University of Washington, Radiation Oncology, Box 356043
1959 NE Pacific St.
Seattle, WA. 98195
mike at radonc.washington.edu
(206) 548-4536