RSPB Handbook of Scottish Birds

Yet another field guide made from recycled old ones! In this case the illustrations are mostly from The Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic (1998). The idea of a guide to a particular part of the country is a good one, as it means that there are not many distracting ‘irrelevant’ species, and this guide is written from a Scottish perspective which is good. The distribution maps are, however, fairly small and unclear, and are not great at helping you work out which species may occur in any given area. Probably best for people living in Scotland who have a general interest in the birds they notice around them.

Book reviewed by Su Gough