Growing Wings: The Perennial Cycle of Birds

by Sarita Van Vleck

Nearly everyone has at one time or another witnessed a great flock of birds winging northward toward their summer home. How the various flocks annually return to the same nesting grounds, following the same route and behaving in precisely the same manner year after year, has been for men a constant source of wonder. But the spring migration is just the first remarkable event in the bird's annual cycle - the ensuing selection of nesting sites, competition for mates, social intercourse, the hatching, feeding, and flight-training of young are equally remarkable in their adherence to strict patterns. Sarita Van Vleck is an engaging story-teller, and her accurate description – illustrated by 35 of her own line drawings – provides even beginning birdwatchers with a greater understanding and appreciation of the bird world. Scientific fact and careful first-hand observation form the solid foundation of “Growing Wings,” but it is the delightful style of a writer who obviously loves her subject that makes the story of the life of birds vivid and exciting to the reader.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977