Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. List of Illustrations ix
4. List of Plates xiii
5. Preface xvii
6. 1 Of Peculiar Interest: Neolithic Birds 1
7. 2 Inside the Catacombs: The Birds of Ancient Egypt 20
8. 3 Talking Birds: The Beginnings of Science in Greece and Rome 39
9. 4 Manly Pursuits: Hunting and Conspicuous Consumption 65
10. 5 Renaissance Thinking: The Parts of Birds 95
11. 6 The New World of Science: Francis Willughby and John Ray Discover Birds 119
12. 7 Depending on Birds: Inconspicuous Consumption 157
13. 8 The End of God in Birds: Darwin and Ornithology 192
14. 9 A Dangerous Type of Bigamy: Killing Time 223
15. 10 Watching Birds: And Seeing the Light 254
16. 11 A Boom in Bird Studies: Behaviour, Evolution and Ecology 278
17. 12 Ghost of the Great Auk: Third Mass Extinction 301
18. Epilogue 329
19. List of Birds Mentioned in the Text 339
20. Acknowledgements 347
21. Notes 351
22. Bibliography 385
23. Index 413