The archive is in the shape and form of its bird and mammal skin collections and its vast insect and butterfly collections. The Journal of the BNHS (JBNHS) and the many priceless books in its library including the incredible volumes of Goulds' Birds of Asia are truly priceless.
Apart from imparting general information on the natural history of the Indian subcontinent, a very key purpose of publishing books such as Wildlife of the Himalayas and the Terai Region, the fourth in the series, is to allow the public to actually see some of the works of the great artists such as J. Gould, Major E. Molyneux, E.C. Stuart Baker and others. Not only were they artists, but naturalists too whose passion included the desire to depict birds in their natural habitats and their natural posture.
The editors of the book are to be complimented for their choice of plates and texts by such all-time greats as S.H. Prater and Sir Robert Armitage Sterndale that provide us with a flavour of the great Himalaya and the myriad lifeforms that thrive therein.
Wildlife of the Himalayas and the Terai Region
Edited by Ashok S. Kothari and Boman F. Chhapgar
Published by the BNHS and Oxford University Press,
Large format, hardbound, full colour, 216 large format pages, Price: Rs. 1,250
A Reviewed by Bittu Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary Asia, Vol XXXII No. 3, June 2012
