Birds of the West Indies

James Bond was born in Philadelphia and worked at the Academy of Natural Sciences in the same city as the curator of the local bird collection. He became an expert in the field of Caribbean birds and in 1936 published the first edition of his book "Birds of the West Indies", which today is still considered a standard work. Until the publication of "A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies" in 1998, Bond's was the only book that dealt with Caribbean birds. Bond was awarded the Musgrave Medal of the Institute of Jamaica (1952), the William Brewster Medal from the American Ornithological Union (1954) for his magnum opus "Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies: A Guide to All the Species of Birds Known From the Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles and Bahama Islands", and the Leidy Medal from the Academy of Natural Sciences (1975). He died at the age of 89 years after a long battle with cancer. Ian Fleming, creator of 007, was an avid bird watcher and knew James Bond when they both lived in Jamaica. He chose the name for the protagonist of his first book, "Casino Royale", and a legend was born!