I have read some general interest bird books and have enjoyed them. This title, however, was my first foray into a highly-detailed look at one specific bird species, containing the work of a skilled and highly-disciplined naturalist bird watcher. There is a lot of fascinating information on the annual nest-building, mating, and young-raising habits of tree swallows.

Over the course of several spring mating seasons, the author observes intently the nest boxes in his yard and devotes an astonishing amount of time collecting data in a detailed fashion. Much of the information was less impressive to me than the amazing fortitude and incredible attention Heinrich gave to his task of understanding the behavior of swallows. As much as I enjoyed the activities of the swallows recounted here, I found myself frequently marveling at the discipline of the observer and the detail shared in the explanation of the birds' behaviors.

The central draw for me is the unusual and fascinating interest the swallows express in the lining their nest with feathers. The author cleverly conducted various experiments with feathers of various colors, shapes, and sizes. Sometimes he would lay them on the ground and observe which ones were chosen and used, sometimes he would remove feathers from a nest and watch to see which ones were replace, and sometimes he would toss them in the air and watch swallows catch them in flight or even nearly pluck them from his fingers.

If you have any interest at all in swallows particularly, or even birds in general, this book will be particularly enjoyable and potentially fascinating.