The Herring Gull’s World / Outsider Animals

"The Herring Gull's World" It’s been ages since I was this excited to receive a book in the post. It’s the 1953 book by Niko Tinbergen on gull society. A beautiful object, and a great writer.Don’t take my word for it:Not only one of the most exciting books for the birdwatcher that has ever been published, but also one that could with advantage be read by politicians and voters who have never watched a bird in their life. A thorough and fascinating study of the social life of a very social bird. — R. S. R. Fitter, Birmingham Post (presumably sometime in the 1950s)I’m not a birdwatcher. My route to this book is somewhat random.* * *I know of the book’s author, Niko Tinbergen, from a course on animal behaviour I took in 2013. We read the wonderful “Four Questions” paper, which tells you that if you’re asking about a behaviour, you’re asking about the mechanism, developmental and evolutionary history, and the utility. Four different, but related, questions.But I did not know about his…

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