Bibliograph

Raptor, a journey through birds : with a new preface, James Macdonald Lockhart

Type

Label

Raptor, a journey through birds : with a new preface, James Macdonald Lockhart

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 357-374)

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Raptor

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

959200538

Responsibility statement

James Macdonald Lockhart

Sub title

a journey through birds : with a new preface

Summary

"From the merlin to the golden eagle, the goshawk to the honey buzzard, James Macdonald Lockhart's stunning debut is a quest of beak, talon, wing, and sky. On its surface, Raptor is a journey across the British Isles in search of fifteen species of birds of prey, but as Lockhart seeks out these elusive predators, his quest becomes so much more: an incomparably elegant elegy on the beauty of the British landscape and, through the birds, a journey toward understanding an awesome power at the heart of the natural world--a power that is majestic and frightening in its strength, but also fragile. Taking as his guide the nineteenth-century Scottish naturalist and artist William MacGillivray, Lockhart loosely follows the historical trail forged by MacGillivray as he ventured from Aberdeen to London filling his pockets with plants and writing and illustrating the canonical A History of British Birds. Linking his journey to that of his muse, Lockhart shares his own encounters with raptors ranging from the scarce osprey to the successfully reintroduced red kite, a species once protected by medieval royal statute, revealing with poetic immediacy the extraordinary behaviors of these birds and the extreme environments they call home. Creatures both worshipped and reviled, raptors have a talon-hold on the human heart and imagination. With his book, Lockhart unravels these complicated ties in a work by turns reverent and euphoric--an interweaving of history, travel, and nature writing at its best. A hymn to wanderers, to the land and to the sky, and especially to the birds, Raptor soars." -- Publisher's description

Table Of Contents

Hen harrier -- Merlin -- Golden eagle -- Osprey -- Sea eagle -- Goshawk -- Kestrel -- Montagu's harrier -- Peregrine falcon -- Red kite -- Marsh harrier -- Honey buzzard -- Hobby -- Buzzard -- Sparrowhawk

Classification