Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!munnari.oz.au!metro!cluster!andrewt
From: andrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Night Parrot
Message-ID: <1454@cluster.cs.su.oz.au>
Date: 8 Nov 90 00:47:40 GMT
References: <1990Nov7.162529.15156@zoo.toronto.edu>
Sender: news@cluster.cs.su.oz.au
Reply-To: andrewt@cluster.cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor)
Organization: Basser Dept of Computer Science, University of Sydney, Australia
Lines: 27

In article <1990Nov7.162529.15156@zoo.toronto.edu> rising@zoo.toronto.edu
(Jim Rising) writes:
> I know nothing about Australian birds, but when I first saw this 
> posting on the Night Parrot, I looked it up in my Slater Guide. 
> It says: "...rare nomad in spinifex, samphire and bluebush plains
> or rocky hillsides in arid interion; ... ; recent sightings in
> Lake Eyre Bason."  So apparently it wasn't thought to be extinct.

No, few thought it extinct though there was scepticism about the
reported sightings. I did post 2 weeks ago an (probably incoherent) article
briefly describing the discovery. I'll post any more news, I hear. I'd
be very interested to hear other reports on endangered birds. For example,
were any eskimo curlew nests found this year?

> Question for Australian birders, I am soon to go to Australia, and
> I have lost my other Australian Field Guide (I think that it was a
> Princeton guide).  Should I get another, or is Slater enough?

Provided you aren't talking about his old (1972?) 2-volume field guide but
rather the more recent (1987?) single volume, yes its sufficient.
I think its the best of the Australian field guides. The first edition
has a number of mistakes which hopefully have been corrected in the 2nd edition.

Field guides are fairly easy to obtain in Australia, larger book stores
usually carry at least one.

Andrew