Hummingbirds by GREENEWALT, Crawford H - 1960

New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1960. FIRST EDITION. Text illustrations and 67 tipped-in photographic color plates. Publisher's full green leather, illustration on front cover, gilt lettering on spine; interior excellent. A beautiful copy from the Library of Dr. James. M. Dolan Jr. with his blind-stamp on title page. Preserved in the original slipcase, which is a bit worn. First edition, Number 57 of 500 numbered copies signed by the author. This extraordinary work was made possible by technical achievements in photography, which is thoroughly explained in the book. The author succeeds in having most of the species exposed to the camera for the first time. The first part the text describes the behavior and characteristics in a very lively and informal style, followed by an explanation of the iridescent color and the complex feather structure of the 55 Hummingbird species treated. Of significance is Greenewal's expert detailing of the flight patterns and wing mechanism of the Hummingbird.Greenewalt (1902-1993) was an American chemical engineer who served as president of the DuPont Company, where he was a key figure in their development of nylon, as well as their nuclear power program. He was an amateur ornithologist.