From the familiar Great Auk to obscure island finches, this listing describes all the bird species known to have disappeared in the last 700 years and now represented by museum specimens, credible accounts and illustration. Each entry includes details of status, range and location of specimens, followed by a description and history, with quotations from written records. There is also a listing of ‘hypothetical birds’, known by very few specimens and unverified accounts, and appendices dealing with doubtful and deficient taxa.