38 THE AU D)U.B ONG BU Dl eae 
BOOK REVIEWS 
GRZIMEK’S ANIMAL LIFE 
ENCYCLOPEDIA; VOL. 9: 
BIRDS III 
Bernard Grzimek, Editor-in-Chief 
Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1973 
648 pp, $29.95 
This is the final volume of the por- 
tion of this epic series dealing with 
birds. We covered the basic pat- 
tern of treatment in the review of 
the first two volumes on_ birds 
(AUDUBON BULLETIN No. 166 
p. 45-46). 
The authors and editors have 
done an excellent job of providing 
a large amount of information 
about a vast number of species. 
The only error noted was a cap- 
tion reversal between Purple and 
Red-legged Honeycreepers. An- 
other very slight criticism is that 
the style of the many artists con- 
tributing the plates varies con- 
siderably, and several species, es- 
pecially the New World warblers 
and blackbirds, were obviously not 
painted by artists familiar with 
the birds in life. These comments 
are certainly minor and the three 
volumes are excellent reference 
books. 
Judging the series by the vol- 
umes on birds, it is to be highly 
recommended. This reviewer again 
strongly advises public libraries to 
give serious consideration to pur- 
chase of the entire set. Any serious 
birder could do far worse than in- 
vesting in the three bird volumes. 
—Peter Petersen 
THE BIRD OF JOVE: 
THE STORY OF THE BERKUT 
GOLDEN EAGLE 
by David Bruce 
Ballantine, 1973 
$2.00 (paperback) 
If you are going to read only one 
book on birds this year, I highly 
recommend “The Bird of Jove.” 
Sam Barnes, a naturalist and 
falconer from Wales, once wrote, 
“The true falconer must at all 
times be patient he must 
realize that he is under an im- 
mense obligation to his hawk. 
Whatever he wants to do, his hawk 
must be his first consideration, the 
ruling factor of his life.” Once this 
statement is understood and ap- 
proved, the non-falconer can bet- 
ter appreciate the falconer’s pas- 
sion for his bird. 
And what a bird it is! While the 
American Bald Eagle is normally 
8 to 12 pounds, with a wingspread 
of 7 to 8 feet, depending upon the 
sex, the Berkut Eagle can weigh 
up to 26 pounds, with a wingspan 
of more than 9 feet, and an ability 
to reach a speed of 120 miles an 
hour. Unpredictable, but having 
great intelligence, stamina, and 
power, it is a beautiful copper- 
gold and greatly prized by the 
men of the Kirghiz Republic, 
Wis.c he 
While on a trip to the Near East 
on a botanical mission, Sam Barnes 
found “Atalanta” at a “campus 
mountain tribesmen, who lived 
much as their forebears did centur- 
ies ago. She was suffering from 
“frounce,” a disease of the mouth 
and tongue, caused by eating a 
