The Birds of South America, Volume 2: The Suboscine Passerines completes the field handbook to all the true songbird species begun in Volume 1: The Oscine Passerines and follows the same format. Volume 2 encompasses more than one-thousand species, from ovenbirds and woodcreepers to cotingas. Fifty-two beautiful colour plates, meticulously researched for soft-part colours and perching attitudes, provide a definitive visual record of most of the species and are arranged to show the relationships of different groups to each other. The text provides extensive information on the habitat, range, habits, and voices of the birds. The distribution maps, based on published sources and recent observations, have been especially prepared for this volume. Most importantly, the authors combine review and analysis with extensive field observations to give an accurate, incisive portrait of the birds in nature. This series is without doubt a landmark publication in neotropical ornithology.