Birds and berries

by Barbara K Snow

"The book's subtitle - A study of an ecological interaction - properly reflects the author's theme but may tend to hide the fact that the relationships between birds and berries can be much more than the simple, mutually advantageous systems ('eat my fruits, spread my seeds') they may seem at first to be. Therein lies the core of the book - the less obvious intricacies and implications of plant/ bird associations, the coevolution of species in some cases and the adaptations of a species (bird or plant) to further its own advantage. To complicate the scene, too, there are the 'exploiters', the pulp-predators and seed-predators that feed at the plant's expense. In Part 1 of the book the authors provide accounts by species of the trees and shrubs they observed over many years in their study area of southern England; similarly, Part 2 records the bird species they watched feeding, or attempting to feed, or preventing other birds from feeding, on the fruits. Part 3 ranges widely and is not