New books acquisitions

New books:

Cognition, evolution, and behavior, 2nd ed., by Sara J. Shettleworth. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GFU (276bi)

Measuring biological diversity, by Anne E. Magurran. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing; 2004. Balfour Library shelfmark: GG (261ii)

Donations by Cambridge University Press:

Nerve cells and animal behaviour, 3rd ed., by Peter J. Simmons and David Young. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GF (193ci-iv) (2 copies on the Overnight Loan shelves, 2 copies on the Open Shelves).

Important: Library self-issue system downtime next week

The library management system, Voyager ExLibris, will be upgraded next week beginning Monday 28th June. We have been told to expect that it will be unavailable for the whole of that week.

This means that you will be unable to borrow books yourself using the Self-Check facility. Only library staff will be able to issue books to you manually, in the Library Office, during library opening hours only (8.30am-5.00pm Monday to Thursday, 8.30am-4.30pm Friday). There will be times that Jane or I may not be around due to one of us taking annual leave or attending meetings or training, and so we wouldn't be able to cover lunch breaks etc. Please come back if one of us isn't around.

A version of the online catalogue, Newton, will be available to everyone so you can still search for books and journals etc. However, you won't be able to use 'Your Account' on Newton or the Cambridge Libraries Widget to renew your books, and email reminders and overdue notices won't be sent out to you during the upgrade. We will be able to renew books manually for you if you think they are due for return during that week, but if they go overdue don't worry about it.

I will let you know when Self-Check is available again.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Clair

Rare book on display in the library

The rare book on display from our collection is:

Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d’Afrique, par François Levaillant. Tome cinquième. Paris: Delachaussé , 1804.

Balfour Library class mark: q Strickland 400.

The book is open at: Planche 210. Le coucou didric, mâle. The bird is from the genus Chrysococcyx (bronze-cuckoos), species Chrysococcyx caprius (Diederik cuckoo).

This splendid green, bronze, black and white coloured male bird is depicted perching on a branch. This is a high quality hand coloured metal engraving. The adult birds of both sexes actually have striking red irises and eye-rings (as seen in photographs online), whereas those of this bird are painted as brown. Its distribution is sub-Saharan Africa, also Saudi Arabia. The bird gets its name from its call “dee-dee-dee-diederik”, and it is a brood parasite. Le Vaillant visited Africa personally to observe the habits and collect specimens of the birds there.

François Le Vaillant (1753-1824) was born in Surinam but returned with his family to Europe in 1763. According to the François Le Vaillant: traveller and ornithologist website, he lacked formal training but was an enthusiastic field ornithologist and a skilful and prolific hunter. Le Vaillant’s voyage to South Africa in 1781 was sponsored by Jacob Temminck and he returned with collections of over 2,000 birds, insects, mammals, plants and ethnological objects. On his return to Paris he began working on his books of travels.

Le Vaillant has always been controversial. His travel books are considerably fictionalised and his bird books include conspicuous falsehoods and fabrications, but recent research has apparently begun to rehabilitate his reputation.

Le Vaillant is most famous for his 6 volume work Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d’Afrique, 1799-1808 which contains sumptuous bird engravings.

Sources:

Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2008. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed May 27, 2010 at http://animaldiversity.org

Internet Bird Collection http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/diederik-cuckoo-chrysococcyx-caprius Accessed May 27, 2010

del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J. eds. (1997) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Balfour Library classmark: qK (51)

Beautiful birds: masterpieces from the Hill Ornithology Collection, Cornell University Library http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/ornithology/ Accessed May 27, 2010

François Le Vaillant, traveller and ornithologist http://web.slais.ucl.ac.uk/2004/p036/p036slc/ Accessed May 27, 2010

Further reading:

François Le Vaillant and the birds of Africa, by L. C. Rookmaaker ... [et al.]; translator, F. M. Webb. Johannesburg : Brenthurst Press, 2004. Balfour Library classmark: q KZ .6 (49)