Top flight reading

Birds Britannica by Mark Cocker and Richard Mabey (Chatto, Pounds 35)

THERE are not many reference books I could happily read from cover to cover - but this is a welcome exception. The publishers claim that Birds Britannica is "a bird book like no other"; and, for once, the hype is justified.

In one weighty volume, the authors have assembled an endlessly fascinating collection of stories, cultural references, and what can best be described as "pub facts" - the sort of thing two blokes in the Dog and Duck will tell each other in sentences beginning, "I bet you never knew ..."

For instance, did you know that 90 per cent of all the Manx shearwaters on the planet breed in Britain and Ireland; yet they have almost died out on the island from which they get their name, the Isle of Man?

Or that barn owls were once considered to be a defence against thunder and lightning?

Or that our smallest bird, the goldcrest, is able to cross the North Sea, where in misty weather it often takes refuge on fishing boats - as a result of which it gained the folk name "herring spink"?

These, and hundreds of other fascinating snippets and stories, can be gleaned at random from virtually every page.

The book covers about 350 species occurring more or less regularly in Britain. The rarer visitors merit only a few paragraphs, while more culturally significant species may receive several pages of close analysis - more than six pages in the case of the red grouse.

The authors also devote plenty of space to what they describe as "one of the best known, most cherished and yet, paradoxically, most frequently persecuted species": the feral, domestic or, as we say around these parts, London pigeon.

Most entries begin with a reference to a quintessential aspect of the bird being discussed: such as its sound (hoopoe), feeding habits ( oystercatcher) or plumage features (black redstart). This is followed by a more discursive account of the species' place in our ancient and modern culture.

Entries include quotes from poets (Shakespeare, Keats and Clare being particularly well represented); extracts from current and historical writings on birds and contributions from ordinary birders and other members of the public.

These fascinating anecdotes include accounts of Canada geese attacking passers-by in a suburban park; wartime memoriesof antiaircraft guns encouraging a cuckoo and a nightingale to sing, and a delightful story about a rescued little grebe finding a home in a kitchen sink.

All the old favourites are here: robins, skylarks - even the nightingale that (almost certainly never) sang in Berkeley Square.

AS IN R ichard Mabey's previous, and very popular, book Flora Britannica, the authors have trodden the fine line between humanity and sentimentality, and produced a volume which will not only serve as a valuable reference for years to come, but will also entertain and enthral its readers.

This is not a book to admire from afar as it sits on your shelf, but one to be kept by the bedside to be dipped into continually. But be warned: you may become so immersed in its pages that, before you realise it, the dawn chorus has begun.

This is natural history in its original sense: a finely woven tapestry of biological science, folklore and personal anecdote that not only entertains the reader, but reinforces and reiterates the central position birds have always held in British culture and society.

Birds Britannica is a welcome contribution to the recent trend towards a greater appreciation of what wild creatures - and especially birds - mean to us.

The pendulum has finally swung away from the coldly objective (and rather dull) approach to writing about wildlife that held sway during the late 20th century and back towards "nature writing" in the proper meaning of the phrase.

.Stephen Moss is author of Everything you always wanted to know about birds ... but were afraid to ask! (Helm, Pounds 9.99).

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