Extinct Birds: An Attempt to Unite in one Volume a Short Account of those Birds which have become Extinct in Historical Times that is, with in the Last Six or Seven Hundred Years to Which are Added a few Which Still Exist, but are on the Verge of Extinction  (Paperback, Walter Rothschild)

About The Book: On the whole, this book is confined to species actually known to be extinct, but a few are included of which a small number is still known to exist, because firstly there seems no doubt that they will vanish soon, and secondly, as in the case of Notornis, it was necessary to clear up certain misconceptions and contradictory statements. In the case of a few species believed to be quite extinct, it is possible that some individuals may still exist in little known parts of their range, while on the other hand it is more than likely that several of the species referred to in my lecture as threatened with destruction, have already ceased to live. This may also be the case with some birds not alluded to at all. A bird usually stated to be extinct is Monarcha dimidiata, from Rara-Tonga, but in March, 1901, two specimens, male and female, were procured by the Earl of Ranfurly. Doubtless this is a species which will one day vanish entirely, but at present it hardly comes within the scope of this work. About The Author: Walter Rothschild (1868-1937), was a British banker, politician, zoologist and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he was presented with the Balfour Declaration, which pledged British support for a Jewish national home in Palestine. Rothschild was the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews from 1925 to 1926. Walter Rothschild was born in London as the eldest son and heir of Emma Louise von Rothschild and Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild, an immensely wealthy financier of the international Rothschild financial dynasty and the first Jewish peer in England. Walter Rothschild was a Liberal Unionist Party Member of Parliament for Aylesbury from 1899 until he retired from politics at the January 1910 general election.