The Journal of the Maine Ornithological Society, Vol. XI. No. 2

VariousProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.3

Word count: 66K words
Chapters: 7

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Journal of the Maine Ornithological Society, Vol. XI. No. 2 by VariousAuthor: Various,Language: English, Class: QL: Science: Zoology, Release Date: Apr 25, 2019

Editor's review

This is Volume XI, No. 2 of the Journal of the Maine Ornithological Society, a periodical document from an early local ornithological society, digitized by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. Journals of this kind generally contain regional bird observation records, short notes on species distribution, society business and members' communications; they are primary material for understanding local birdwatching activity and record-keeping in early twentieth-century America. Their value lies not in systematic ornithological theory but in showing the observation habits, record formats and process of local knowledge accumulation of a period. For general readers the text is scattered and dense with specialist terms, so the threshold is fairly high; but for readers interested in the history of ornithology, local natural history or the history of scientific societies, it offers a texture of detail that general histories cannot replace. It is best read as historical material to browse rather than as a book to read from cover to cover.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying the history of ornithology or local natural history who need primary periodical material
Enthusiasts interested in the operation of early scientific societies and the history of birdwatching
Birdwatchers with good English reading ability who are interested in local species records
Readers who collect public-domain natural-history literature for reference organization

Not a good fit for

Beginners who want to learn ornithology systematically and need textbook-style reading
Readers expecting a modern, richly illustrated birdwatching guide
Readers who struggle with English and lack patience for scattered periodical formats

Reading tips

Skim the table of contents and section divisions first, then choose entries of interest such as species records or regional reports for close reading.
Keep a bird list or dictionary at hand and check scientific names and older names as you go.
Treat the journal as historical material to browse; you need not read it in order, and you can take excerpt notes by topic.
If you are studying local bird history, compare it with journals from other years to observe changes in record-keeping.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this journal in English?

Yes, this is an English public-domain ebook published by Project Gutenberg; the text is in English and there is no Chinese translation. Reading it requires some English ability and a foundation in ornithological vocabulary.

What does a journal like this generally contain?

According to the title and the usual format of comparable local ornithological society journals, it generally includes regional bird observation records, short notes on species distribution, society business and members' communications. For the specific contents, refer to the table of contents in the ebook; this page does not describe details that have not been verified.

Why is it worth reading?

Its value lies in its primacy: it shows how local birdwatching was recorded and how knowledge accumulated in the early twentieth century. For researchers in the history of ornithology, local natural history and the history of scientific societies, such material fills in details that general histories cannot cover.

Is it suitable for ordinary birdwatchers?

It can be browsed as historically interesting reading, but it is not a modern guide to identifying species, and the contents are scattered and full of specialist terms. If you only want to improve your birdwatching skills, choose contemporary field guides and regional bird manuals.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Various Author

Various is not a real person but a collective attribution used in book cataloging and databases for works with multiple authors, commonly applied to anthologies, compilations, or publications with too many contributors to list individually. On this Chinese book site, this attribution covers as many as 3,387 titles, spanning encyclopedic entries, historical documents, and trial records. Representative works include several volumes of the 11th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and the record of the trial of the major war criminals before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. Available public information is limited: nationality, birth and death dates, and common categories are not clearly recorded, making it difficult to summarize a unified writing style or personal biography. Readers should understand it as a cataloging convention rather than a single author.