This  authoritative work of reference has been planned to take account of the great advances that have been made since the publication of the Handbook of British Birds (1938-41), which for may years provided the basis on which ornithological research in the UK was built.  Ornithologists now work on a wider geographical basis, and this new handbook covers the whole of the Western Palearctic, which includes all Europe together with the Middle East to Turkey, Iraq and Jordan. Volume I Ostrich to Ducks.The book weighs more than 2kg.