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Birds of the West Indies by Kirwan, Levesque, Oberle & Sharpe

10,000 Birds

The illustrations are precise, detailed and beautiful, reaching about the right number of species per page, so they are not overcrowded, nor bare in places. An affluent Serbian playboy, who spoke English, Italian, French and German, accepted the challenge and threw down an outrageous $40,000 baccarat bet (roughly $700,000 today).