405 pages, indexed, illustrated. A pristine, solid copy that has never been opened. "Australia is known as the land of marsupials, but our birds are even more extraordinary. Compared with those elsewhere, they're more likely to be intelligent, aggressive, loud, long-lived, ecologically, powerful, and to live in complex societies. And unlike the mammals, some have spread around the globe: more than half the world's birds including all its songbirds and parrots, many pigeons, and even the dodo can be traced back to Australia. No other continent has been as important for bird evolution. (back cover)