FALCONS NEST ON SKYSCRAPERS

A fine entry in the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series that introduces readers to the peregrine falcon, its history, habits, and its near-deadly encounter with DDT. Jenkins (A Nest Full of Eggs, 1995, not reviewed) starts her story with a profile of the falcon's hunting skills and draws readers in by noting that the falcon stoops (dives) at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour toward its target (and never misses). After offering background on the DDT episode (in the 1950s, peregrines ate poisoned insects and then laid eggs with shells so thin they cracked under the weight of the nesting mother), Jenkins chronicles the successful efforts to bring the peregrine back from the brink of extinction with the aid of researchers such as those at the Hawk Barn laboratory. One of their banded birds, Scarlett, took up roost on the 33rd floor of a Baltimore office building (where Jenkins was working) and waited five years for a mate to appear. When he finally showed up, their clutch of eggs produced the first wild peregrine eyases in the eastern US in over 30 years. Lloyd's vivid, highly realistic watercolors enhance the lucid, lively text; no one should be surprised if readers finish this book and ask for a lift to one of the bird-watching venues listed in the back. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-9)