Audubon Water Bird Guide by Richard H. Pough

Audubon Water Bird Guide by Richard H. Pough is a classic mid-20th-century ornithological field guide covering the water birds, game birds and larger land birds of eastern and central North America, extending geographically from southern Texas northwards to central Greenland. Sponsored by the National Audubon Society, this substantial guide was produced as part of the Doubleday Nature Guides series and remains an attractive reference for birders, ornithology enthusiasts and collectors of vintage natural-history books.

Pough combines practical identification information with concise accounts of individual species, including their distribution, habitat, behaviour and distinguishing characteristics. The book is particularly appealing for its extensive illustrations, with colour artwork by renowned bird artist Don Eckelberry complemented by line drawings by Earl L. Poole. Audubon Water Bird Guide covers hundreds of illustrations and includes an extensive section of colour plates, making it both a useful reference and an interesting example of bird identification literature from the period. Contemporary bibliographic records describe the work as covering 258 species and containing 48 colour plates.

This copy is bound in attractive light tan cloth with red titling and a silver water-bird motif to the front board, together with matching decoration to the spine. While modern field guides have naturally superseded some aspects of its taxonomy and range information, Audubon Water Bird Guide retains considerable historical and collecting interest, particularly for those interested in the development of North American ornithology and bird identification.

Condition – Very Good

Light tan cloth hardcover with red lettering and silver decoration. Minor shelf wear and slight age-toning to the page edges. Binding remains firm and the interior appears clean. No dust jacket.