Ernst Mayr and Jared Diamond decided in 1970 to collaborate on an authoritative monograph presenting their data and interpretations of the evolution of the birds of the Solomon and Bismark Islands. This text is the culmination of their research.

INTRODUCTION; PART 1: NORTHERN MELANESIA'S PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT; PART 2: HUMAN HISTORY AND IMPACTS; PART 3: THE NORTHERN MELANESIAN AVIFAUNA; PART 4: COLONIZATION ROUTES; PART 5: TAXONOMIC ANALYSIS: DIFFERENCES AMONG SPECIES; PART 6: GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS: DIFFERENCES AMONG ISLANDS; PART 7: SYNTHESIS, CONCLUSIONS, AND PROSPECTS; MAPS; APPENDICES; APPENDIX 1: SYSTEMATIC LIST: BREEDING LAND AND FRESHWATER NATIVE BIRDS OF NORTHERN MELANESIA; APPENDIX 2: NONBREEDING VISITORS TO NORTHERN MELANESIA; APPENDIX 3: INTRODUCED BIRD SPECIES IN NORTHERN MELANESIA; APPENDIX 4: CHRONOLOGIES OF ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPLORATION; APPENDIX 5: ATTRIBUTES OF EACH BIRD SPECIES; APPENDIX 6: EVIDENCE OF OVERWATER DISPERSAL ABILITY OF EACH SPECIES AND ALLOSPECIES IN THE BISMARCKS AND SOLOMONS; APPENDIX 7: DISTRIBUTIONS AND ORIGINS OF NORTHERN MELANESIAN BIRD POPULATIONS; REFERENCES; INDEX

Abundance of illustrations ... superb series of nine plates by Douglas Pratt that, for the first time, depict many of the forms in colour ... This definitive volume will inspire a new set of studies based on genetics and DNA, before too many of the unique island forms disappear. It will remain the ultimate work on island speciation.