A young Common Snipe (Scolopax Gallinago ), taken from A History of British Birds by William Yarrell, volume III, 1860.

RSPB Complete Birds of Britain and Europe, Rob Hume. A high quality reference work that includes details on the 800 species of birds most often found in Britain and Europe, with full page profiles of the most important 320 species, each supported with high quality photographs. At nearly 500 pages it might be a little large to use in the field, but is an invaluable reference work.