On a recent visit to my mother’s new retirement village, I was perusing the very well stocked library when I came across a Roger Tory Peterson A Field Guide to The Birds first published in 1934. This copy was the fourth edition and published in 1947. It looks like it was a gift to a non birder and is in extremely good condition.
The area covered by the book is the eastern United States.
The retirement home librarian was overwhelmed that I was interested in the book and was more than happy to let me take it home. Apparently, books go missing all the time. Go figure.
I was interested to see a Richardson’s Owl listed and started looking into the name.
The boreal owl (Aegolius funereus) or Tengmalm's owl is a small owl in the "true owl" family Strigidae. It is known as the Boreal Owl in North America and as Tengmalm’s Owl in Europe after Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm and more rarely as Richardson’s Owl after Sir John Richardson.
Sir John Richardson was a Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and Arctic explorer who lived 1787-1865.
Kind of interesting seeing a lot of older names for common birds now. Most of the drawings are in black and white but a few have colour.
I also found out there is a woman’s national football team in Finland called The Boreal Owls.
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