VOL. 17 (6) JUNE 1998 Review: Nature Sounds of Australia 317

Nature Sounds of Australia CD and booklet compiled by David Rentz. Sound Heritage Association, Melbourne 1996. Package of 1 X CD and softcover booklet: 1 hour of 90 individual sound-tracks; pp. 116, col. pll. 83, b/w pll. 8, figs 6. RRP $A25.

This item is from the Soundabout Australia series, a project to record Australia's heritage in sound by the Centre for Studies in Australian Music, University of Melbourne. The CD is a selection of original, high-quality digital recordings of the sounds of Australian wildlife, from the National Film & Sound Archive: mammals

· (8 species/9 tracks), birds (22 species/tracks), frogs (15 species/16 tracks), crickets (16 species/5 tracks), katydids (29 species/24 tracks), cicadas (18 species/10 tracks) , ultrasonic arthropod noises slowed down to within human hearing (4 species/! track), and crabs (2 species/! track). The booklet lists each track by species, recordist, duration and (for frogs and insects) locality, temperature and environmental conditions. The booklet contains an explanatory introduction to the recordings, and chapters on: the mechanisms of sound production in arthropods, bird sounds, acoustic communication in frogs, the Australian cicada fauna, sound-production in cicadas, ultrasonic arthropod sounds, and crabs. Some chapters are brief commentaries, others (on frogs and orthopterans) are more detailed and technical, and most include a reference list for further reading.

The colour plates (in small format) depict examples of the species in the recordings, cross-referenced to the respective tracks. The black-and-white plates are mostly scanning electron micrographs of the stridulatory organs of various arthropods. The figures are diagrams of the sound-producing organs of insects, and oscillograms of examples of their sounds.

This package is, as intended, only a survey or sample of the range of animal sounds, and cannot be a comprehensive field-guide. The mammals represented are several marsupials and others whose calls are generally poorly known to the public. The bird calls are a selection from various orders, some familiar and others not so, including interesting 'new' Red Goshawk calls. Many of the frogs are my local species, so this CD is a useful field aid in that regard. The many cricket and katydid tracks reflect the compiler's interests, but also show that insects do indeed dominate the world in terms of diversity and abundance. The chapters on frogs and arthropods contain many interesting facts and explanations, and many of the insect sound-tracks have been recorded and presented for the first time.

This is a commendable concept and worthy project, which makes for fascinating listening and reading. Its aim is to give the user an understanding of the major sound­producing creatures of Australia, and why and how they produce the sounds; I think it succeeds. My only criticism is that ultrasonic calls of insectivorous bats deserve inclusion and commentary in such a work, and I noticed the occasional typing or spelling error in scientific names and recordists' names. The chapters were written by specialists on invertebrates and frogs, with little 'meat' in the short texts on birds and mammals, although the general principles on communication and sound transmission would apply. I think bird-watchers, particularly those with a broad interest in natural history, would find this package of interest. It is available from the Sound Heritage Association, Centre for Studies in Australian Music, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052 .

Stephen Debus