THE RED CANARY: THE STORY OF THE FIRST GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ANIMAL By Tim Birkhead. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2003. 284 pages; eight colour plates. ISBN 0-297-82996-3. Hardback, £16.99. ornithologists, as the reader is dragged into the obsession with captive birds which has left the Red Siskin on the verge of extinction. In recounting the story of Duncker, his pioneering work in the (then) new field of Mendelian genetics, and the application of genetic principles to avian pigmentation, the book does a fine job. It is also an easy read. While the history appears to be strong, however, the biology is surprisingly weak, sometimes poorly explained and even inaccurate. I suppose that in a popular book the science is going to be lightweight, but in several places I felt it would actually be easier for the layman to understand Duncker's work if there were some explanation of Mendelian genetics, modifier genes, genetic dominance, etc. I also objected to the title В­ Duncker may have been ahead of his time, but his work was not genetic engineering in any meaningful sense, and the description of the red Canary as a transgenic animal is risible. Hype, even. Duncker's single-minded use of genetics to improve his Canaries, and his enthusiastic support of `genetic hygiene' in human society, led to his induction into the National Socialist Party in 1940, and he continued to promote eugenic policies publicly. Even after the war, he never disowned the Nazis. Such an association casts a long shadow, which may