This is the first comprchensive book about the birds of this fascinating group of volcanic islands in the Southwest Pacific, the former French and British condominium of the New Hébrides.
It contains a checklist and detailed notes on identification, behaviour, habitat, breeding and distribution for the 121 species known to have occurred there but it is much more than a guide book. An important educational section, included with the intention of stimulating further local research, is a discussion on the avifauna and conservation, classification of birds, notes on the text and hints for bird watchers. The educational aspect is underlined in the lengthy introduction by Dr Marcus Chambers, environmcntal adviser to the government of Vanuatu from 1986-89, which covers the geography, geology, climate, flora and fauna, agriculture and forestry resources and wildlife conservation.
Above ail this book demonstrates the remarkable enthusiasm and dedication of a young German ornithologist who travelled throughout the archipclago studying the birds, sometimes in almost impénétrable tropical rainforests. As soon as the Vila Cultural Centre was established in 1961 he took an active part in its work and provided a comprehensive collection of natural history specimens for the museum. Having trained at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Berlin, Heinrich Bregulla set off for the tropical Pacific in 1959 at the age of 29. He stayed there for over 20 years and made collecting expéditions to New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga and the Phillipines. As a member of the Board of Management of the Cultural Centre in Vanuatu until 1976, he advised the New Hebrides Condominium Government on ail matters concerning wildlife legislation and conservation. He was in charge of the Parc Forestier, the National Botanic-Zoological Garden of New Caledonia, for three years until 1980 where, beside re-structuring the Park, he ran a successful Captive-Breeding Programme of endangered species which included the Kagu, and the Uvea Homed Parakeet.