To see accurate pricing, please choose your delivery country.
 
 
United States
£ GBP
All Shops

British Wildlife

8 issues per year 84 pages per issue Subscription only

British Wildlife is the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiast and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Published eight times a year, British Wildlife bridges the gap between popular writing and scientific literature through a combination of long-form articles, regular columns and reports, book reviews and letters.

Subscriptions from £33 per year

Conservation Land Management

4 issues per year 44 pages per issue Subscription only

Conservation Land Management (CLM) is a quarterly magazine that is widely regarded as essential reading for all who are involved in land management for nature conservation, across the British Isles. CLM includes long-form articles, events listings, publication reviews, new product information and updates, reports of conferences and letters.

Subscriptions from £26 per year
Academic & Professional Books  Ornithology  Birds: General

Flights of Fancy Birds in Myth, Legend and Superstition

By: Peter Tate(Author)
180 pages, b&w illus
Publisher: Arrow Books
Flights of Fancy
Click to have a closer look
Select version
  • Flights of Fancy ISBN: 9780099509875 Paperback Jun 2009 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 6 days
    £12.99
    #181045
  • Flights of Fancy ISBN: 9781905211616 Hardback Sep 2007 Out of Print #169832
Selected version: £12.99
About this book Customer reviews Biography Related titles

About this book

Did you know that Barnacle geese were once classified as fish? That both the Cherokees and the ancient Greeks were convinced that cranes regularly fought battles with pygmies? That the Swiss believed that any cuckoo that managed to survive for a year would turn into an eagle?

Throughout history, birds have fascinated and intrigued mankind, so it is hardly surprising that an astonishingly rich body of myth, legend and superstition has grown up around them. Flights of Fancy explores the stories told about 30 of the world's best-known species, from the blackbird to the wryneck, drawing on traditions from every quarter of the globe. Some of the stories included clearly arose as a result of faulty observation, such as the widely held belief that nightjars sucked milk from cows. Others stemmed from attempts to explain unusual aspects of appearance or behaviour. But the vast majority seem to have their origins in people's delight in inventing stories – whether the legend that the blackbird was originally white, or the suggestion that witches kept owls as their familiars. And, as Peter Tate points out, what is so extraordinary is that the same story often crops up in many different parts of the world: the belief that eagles and snakes are sworn enemies can be found as far apart as Iraq and Mexico; the view that the raven is the harbinger of bad luck can be found throughout Europe from Denmark to Spain.

A fascinating and wonderfully entertaining read, this is the ideal book for anyone interested in birds or myths – or both.

Customer Reviews

Biography

Peter Tate has published several books on ornithology, including Bird, Men and Books: A Literary History of Ornithology and A Century of Bird Books.

By: Peter Tate(Author)
180 pages, b&w illus
Publisher: Arrow Books
Current promotions
New and Forthcoming BooksBest of WinterNHBS Moth TrapBuyers Guides