BIRDS OF PREY. By Nicholas Hammond and Bruce Pearson. Hamlyn Bird Behaviour Guides.

1993 1st edition. 8vo (160 x 243mm). Pp160. Colour and b/w illustrations by Bruce Pearson, bibliography, gazeteer. Blue boards, spine titled in gilt.

This is an authoritative and useful discussion of raptor ethology, with some good illustrations. Chapters include; Feeding - adaptations, ranges and territories, finding food, flying techniques, hunters in the air, prey on the ground, reptile-hunters, fish-eaters, invertebrates, carrion, pirates, co-operative hunting, eating prey; courtship and breeding - timing the breeding cycle, pair-bonds, displays, choosing a nest-site, building a nest, mating, eggs, incubation, rearing chicks, development in the nest, nests that fail, growing up; Aggression - threat displays, reactions of other birds; Movement - dispersal, local movement, nomadism, migration; Gazeteer; Bibliography; Scientific names.