Amazon.com (ISBN 0670887242, Hardcover)

People have been watching birds and studying their ways since the dawn of humankind. Birdwatching as we know it, however, is a fairly recent invention; in her introduction to this fine anthology, Jen Hill traces it to the English naturalist and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne, who in 1662 put together an annotated list of the birds of Norfolk, having wandered through the marshes and fields to observe their habits. Countless writers have followed in Browne's footsteps, and Hill brings many of them--Browne included--to this nicely portable collection of excerpts from the literature of birdwatching. Among the contributors are the ever-quotable English traveler W.H. Hudson, who took an interest in birds wherever he went, from the jungles of the Amazon to the suburbs of London; Irene Grosvenor Wheelock, whose Birds of California remains a popular reference nearly a century after its first publication; and Oliver Goldsmith, the Georgian writer, who describes the many connections that join birds and other animals to humans. Organized by theme--for instance, migration and bird physiology--Hill's anthology mingles scientific observation, folklore, memoir, and literary essay to make a pleasing, commonplace book. It's a welcome addition to the birdwatcher's bookshelf. --Gregory McNamee