Comeback for "King Penguin"

By John S. DeMott

Roger Tory Peterson completes a sparkling new bird guide

When his first Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America appeared in 1934, Roger Tory Peterson, then 25, had no inkling of what he was on the verge of creating. The guide and two subsequent revisions sold an extraordinary 3 million copies. Its clear drawings, with black lines pointing out distinctive features, and simple explanatory text helped expand bird watching from the pastime of a select few to a hobby that now engages more than 20 million Americans.

Peterson's guide also played a role in creating today's environmental awareness; as he explains, birds act as a kind of "ecological litmus paper," reacting to changes in their surroundings long before man does. Even Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, learned "birding" from the guide. Finally, Peterson may have wrought some environmental changes himself; his followers have been so lavish in putting food out for birds that many cardinals, mourning doves and white-throated sparrows are now spending their winters in the North.

Now 72, a recipient of numerous honorary degrees (he had only a high school diploma and some art training), plus the Medal of Freedom, Peterson has been under pressure for years from both his public and publisher to update his celebrated guide. Next month they will get their wish with the appearance of the latest and most eagerly awaited Peterson guide (Houghton Mifflin; $15 in hardcover, $9.95 paperback).

The new edition of the bible of Eastern birding is the first revamping since 1947 and the fourth since the initial work appeared 46 years ago. It contains nearly 1,700 Peterson drawings and paintings of 575 species of birds--all native to the Eastern U.S. and Canada -- on 136 color plates. Unlike the first guide, which Peterson now dismisses as "simple-minded and crude," descriptions run next to each bird rather than pages away. Another innovation: hundreds of range maps, drawn by Peterson's third wife, Virginia, 54, that show breeding grounds and winter and summer domiciles. There are also dozens of ornithological changes, at least one of which should disappoint baseball fans: the Baltimore oriole, now interbred with the Western Bullock's oriole, is renamed the Northern oriole.

A sublime craftsman, Peterson paints in laborious detail, often from photographs he has taken with his own Nikons; he is an expert birder who has counted more than 3,000 species and, say friends, can identify a rare bird from a speeding car. Still, the work for the new book was, in his words, "slavery of a sort," involving countless 15-hour days in his studio in Old Lyme, Conn. Guarding his nearby home is a 2-ft.-high statue of Antarctica's emperor penguin, Peterson's favorite bird--some birders call him "King Penguin." Says Peterson: "I like its manner and its elegance. They are survivors in one of the harshest climates in the world."

The new book should launch a come back for the King. Sales of his guide have leveled off in recent years as successful competitors have come along. First there was Golden Press's Birds of North America, which is better organized and easier to use than Peterson's old edition, then The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, with photographs instead of drawings. But Peterson maintains that this is not the best way to present birds: "A photograph has all the vagaries of climate and light. A good drawing is a composite of past experience." The entrepreneurial spirit also beckoned, and by 1970 he was busy on the fourth edition. Says he: "I'm competitive enough to want to have the best."

He may just have it. Les Line, editor of Audubon magazine, says that the fourth edition "puts Roger right back in the forefront." James Tucker, executive director of the 5,000-member American Birding Association, calls it "superb." The book is more than a collection of pretty pictures: it is a weapon in the war to protect the environment. As Peterson says, there is no common denominator for bird watchers, except one trait: "All like to relate to the natural world, rather than to technology. If birding is an escape, it's not from reality, but from unreality, from the technological world, which sometimes seems to get out of hand."

--By John S. DeMott. Reported by Ruth Mehrtens Galvin/Boston

With reporting by Ruth Mehrtens Galvin

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