- 1977 edition, 219 pages
- Published by Auckland University Press, Oxford University Press
- Hardcover with dust jacket, green boards. Large A4 size book.
- Very good condition, minor age wear, fading to dust jacket, small tear to back of dust jacket Small twink out on free front end paper.
Illustrated and index and appenix included. Illustrations by Christopher Healey.
Rare Book. This is a bird book with a difference. A young New Guinea Highlander, born before Europeans first entered his home area, describes the birds his people know and name. Ian Saem Majnep is a Kalam, from the Kaironk Valley in the Schrader Range, on the northern fringes of the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea.
In the twenty-five square miles of mountain forest, garden land, and grasslands of the Upper Kaironk 140 bird species are known to occur, including many of the birds of paradise for which New Guinea has so long been famous. Saem describes 137 of these - as well as other s from neighbouring areas at lower altitudes - an impressive documentation of the extent and accuracy of neolithic natural history. He also discusses six kinds of bats, for bats are classified as birds by Kalam.
Saem not only describes the appearance and habits of the birds, but relates bird lore to many aspects of the life and thought of his people, to hunting, gardening, ceremonials, mythology and magic. He reveals the Kalam knowledge of other animals and plants. He also gives an insight into the momentous transition his people have undergone in the past twenty years, from stone-age isolation and autonomy to integration and participation in the newly independent nation of Papua New Guinea.
Saem's co-authr - Ralph Bulmer, was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Papua New Guinea from 1968 to 1973 and now holds the same position at the University of Auckland.
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