The Birds

From the dust jacket:

"Why do birds sing and what do their songs mean? First we must decide what a bird song is. It takes more than one 'cheep' or 'peep' to form a song; the song is made up of a group of sounds repeated at intervals and in a similar pattern.... Thus, both the rhythmic tapping of a woodpecker's beak and the drumming of a grouse with its wings are songs...."

In such clear, easy-to-read language as well as superb illustrations, young readers will discover with delight why birds sing. They will be introduced to the wonders of the feathered world: "frock-coated" penguins who waddle and swim but cannot fly... tiny iridescent hummingbirds who fly straight up. forward, backward, and hover motionless in the air... torpedo-shaped loons that dive 240 feet below the surface of the sea. The reader will recognize some of the birds as old friends: melodious song sparrows, insect-eating swallows, colorful robins, blue jays and cardinals. But, for the most part, many will be unfamiliar: the hairy, football-shaped kiwi, the strangest bird of all with its flightlessness, whiskery face and nostrils at the very tip of its beak... the scrub fowl, which buries its eggs in mounds of earth.

This entertaining, instructive book consists of 128 pages, including 28 pages of full-color photographs and paintings. Over 60 pages of drawings and sketches vividly show that some birds have extraordinary vision, much sharper than man's; better-designed bodies than most airplanes; unique methods for communicating, nestbuilding, and food gathering.