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More from Books

The complexities of the dawn chorus

The habits of common or garden birds and their intricate songs prove even more fascinating than the puffins and guillemots of Adam Nicolson’s previous book

3 May 2025

9:00 AM

3 May 2025

9:00 AM

Bird School: A Beginner in the Wood Adam Nicolson

William Collins, pp.448, 22

‘Tawny owls,’ I tell friends and family, ‘can’t see in the dark any better than we can. So they memorise the whole wood! But they may be able to see sound,’ I burble. ‘And the Latin name for a blue tit is Cyanistes caeruleus obscurus: Heavenly hidden blue one!’

In Bird School, Adam Nicolson rejoices in the detailed stories of some of the birds on his farm in Sussex.

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