422 
THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY • Vol 124. No. 2. June 2012 
black-and-white photographs. ISBN: 978-0-465- 
02013-3 (hard cover): E-book ISBN: 978-0-0465- 
02346-2. S25.99 (hardcover).—Thor Hanson 
manages to weave together a great and wondrous 
diversity of feather-related facts and stories, 
organized around the themes Evolution. Fluff, 
Flight. Fancy, and Function. Most of these themes 
are self-explanatory, think down and insulation for 
•Fluff, and sexual selection and cabaret for 
'Fancy,' respectively. Hanson uses these themes 
and manages to flit and fly among everything you 
can think of relating to feathers and quite a bit 
more. From purely biological subjects— Archae- 
opteryx and the first birds, the origin of feathers 
within dinosaurs, feather development, molt, 
keratin, the up- and downsides of insulation, flight 
and the evolution thereof, airfoils and wing- 
assisted incline running, sexual selection, colora¬ 
tion. sound production, etc.—to feather-related 
human activities and history—down and millinary 
industries, falconry, fly-tying, feather pens, con¬ 
servation—it all seems to be there. 
The writing is very engaging. In each chapter 
Hanson winds around, alternately telling stories 
from history antl/oi recent research, sprinkling in 
cool biological facts, slipping into personal obser¬ 
vations and experience, and even reporting on a 
surprising amount of do-it-yourself-at-home exper¬ 
imentation (often with dead birds from his freezer!). 
Hanson makes his journey of discovery ours as he 
introduces us to a suite of interesting characters, 
some of them biologists, some of them businessmen 
and women, some of them artists. Often humorous 
quotes begin each chapter and draw from such 
luminaries as Alfred Russell Wallace. William 
Shakespeare, Lord Byron. Izaak Walton, Paul 
Simon, and my personal favorite, the writers of the 
movie ‘Chicken Run’. Thoughtful reflections set up 
transitions between stories, and pique the reader’s 
curiosity for each subsequent chapter. 
There is something for everyone to learn. 
Seasoned/professional ornithologists will inevita¬ 
bly leant something about the nexus between 
feathers and human activities, perhaps in the story 
about the covert (pun intended) South African 
expedition to obtain ‘Barbary’ Ostriches. But even 
biologists will likely learn a thing or two about the 
biology ol leathers as well with so much happening 
in related fields ol paleontology, development, and 
coloration these days. For the budding students of 
ornithology, this is an engaging and fun read 
spanning all the important aspects of leather 
io ogy in an easily accessible and memorable 
way. Birdwatchers/-lovers will enjoy basking in 
the multidimensional glory of the feather, hallmark 
of our favorite creatures. For the non-biologist, 
Fcoilicrs fits into the genre of topical non-fiction 
that is often fun in showing the reader how 
something as ‘mundane’ as a feather is actualh 
brimming with fascinating details. In this way. if 
you are just fascinated with all the surprising 
details of how things in life fit together, you will 
surely enjoy this book. 
My only caveat to the book is to warn the 
.scientific readers that it uses the poetic license of 
someone writing for general audiences to adapt 
some of the historical accounts a little to make 
them flow as stories. Likewise, Hanson uses a few 
analogies to explain some of the more complex 
biological phenomenon that are not entireh 
accurate. Thus, although this account of feathers 
will greatly educate anyone who reads it about 
leathers, some of the details should be checked 
against the primary scientific literature before 
conducting any research based on them! 
I enjoyed the entire read but, perhaps mv 
favorite passage was the last, which I think 
summarizes the spirit of the entire book quite 
well. Hanson describes a giant blown-up photo¬ 
graph of a puffin on display at the Smithsonian. In 
the photograph, the bird is flying straight at you. 
and apparently each feather and racliis on the 
animal’s head is visible in crisp detail. He 
describes the reaction of people rounding a comer 
ol the exhibit and coming face-to-face with the 
larger-then-life puffin: “They all react just as I 
had: a sudden intake of breath, then the leaning in 
for a closer look, the narrowing of the eyes, 
the careful examination. From surprise to query 
to wonder. Let the fascination begin." What 
an appropriate note to end such a journey of 
discovery on: with the sense that the journey 
is just beginning.—KIMBERLY S. BOSTWICK. 
Curator, Birds and Mammals, Museum of Verte¬ 
brates. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary 
Biology. Cornell University, Imogene Powers 
Johnson Center, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road. 
Ithaca, NY 14850, USA: e-mail: Lsb6@comell. 
edu 
THE CROSSLEY ID GUIDE: EASTERN 
BIRDS. By Richard Crossley. Princeton Univer¬ 
sity Press. Princeton. New Jersey. USA. 2011 : 544 
pages, 10,000 color images. ISBN: 978-0-691- 
14778-9. $35.00 (Cloth).—According to the press 
