A.H. Chisholm 2013. Mateship with Birds. 1922. Republished 2013 with foreword by Sean Dooley. Scribe: Brunswick, 178 pp.

A time capsule from the 1920s, and there is something very pleasing about natural history writing from earlier eras. Plentiful allusions and quotes from bush poets, lots of natural history. Includes a generous selection of Alex Chisholm’s photographs of birds, very average by modern standards but hard won with the equipment of the day. On the other hand, birds were very evidently more abundant and much more easily found.

Alex Chisholm, a journalist, has to strive gently here to get a conservation message across, so gentle as to be almost apologetic. Even in the sad final chapter on the last few human interactions with the Paradise Parrot. The Paradise Parrot Tragedy indeed. https://res.cloudinary.com/scribe-publications/image/upload/w_800,/v1461226772/newcovers/9781922070326.jpg