The Australian Capital Territory is a treasure trove for naturalists, despite being without a coastline, without rainforest or without deserts. A wealth of biodiversity is found there, due to the close proximity of three major habitat types: the great western woodland grassy plains bump up against the inland edge of the coastal hinterland mountain forests, while the whole south-eastern Australian Alps system reaches its northern limit in the Brindabella Ranges. Each of these habitats has its own rich suite of plants and animals, so a great diversity of life can be found within an hour's drive of Parliament House. A Bush Capital Yearintroduces the fauna, flora, habitats and reserves of the Australian Capital Territory and includes the most recent research available. It also emphasizes often unappreciated or even unrecognized urban wildlife. For each month of the year there are 10 stories which discuss either a species or a group of species, such as mosses and mountain grasshoppers. While never anthropomorphic, many of the stories are written from the organism's point of view, while others are from that of an observer. Beautiful paintings complement the text and allow better visualization of the stories and the subjects.
Everywhere we go there are birds, and they all have mysteries to be unravelled. These mysteries include the way they look, from bizarre to apparently mundane, why they live where they live, and the things they do, many of which are far too incredible ever to be imagined as fiction. Birds in Their Habitatsis a collection of stories and experiences which introduce fascinating aspects of bird life, ecology and behavior. Informed by a wealth of historical and contemporary research, Ian Fraser takes the reader on a journey through four continents: from places as unfamiliar as the Chonos Archipelago of southern Chile and the arid Sahel woodlands of northern Cameroon to those as familiar as a suburban backyard. This is a book of discovery of birds and the places they live. And with humor and personal insight, it is a book about the sometimes strange world of the people who spend a life absorbed in birds.
This book is for anyone with an interest in birds, words, or the history of Australian biology and birdwatching. It discusses common and scientific names of every Australian bird to tease out their meanings--which may be useful, useless or downright misleading! The authors examine every species: its often many--and--varied common names, its full scientific name, with derivation, translation and a guide to pronunciation. Stories behind the name are included, as well as relevant aspects of biology, conservation and history. Original descriptions, translated by the authors, have been sourced for most species. As well as being a book about names this is also a book about the history of ever-developing understandings of birds, about the people who contributed and, most of all, about the birds themselves.
This Second Edition of Australian Bird Names is a completely updated checklist of Australian birds and the meanings behind their common and scientific names, which may be useful, useless or downright misleading! This Second Edition has been revised to follow current taxonomy and understanding of the relationships between families, genera and species. It contains new taxa, updated text and new vagrants and will be interesting reading for anyone with a love of birds, words or the history of Australian biology and bird-watching.
A collection of documentation regarding the treatment of capital gains in the United States. Articles by economists, lawyers, Treasury Department officials, and congressional testimony. Chapters include general assessment of capital gains taxation, capital gains revenue estimates, capital gains and economic growth, fairness and distributional equity, inflation and indexing, designing a capital gains tax preference.
