Seasons Of Flight

Shortened Seasons recounts the stories of some of the baseball players who never made it back for the next game, who died with the suddenness of a walk-off homerun. For them, there was no next year. From Hall of Fame caliber players such as Roberto Clemente, Thurman Munson, and Ed Delahanty to players who were still finding their niche in the game like Ken Hubbs, Lyman Bostoc, and Darryl Kile, this book explores the lives and deaths of ball players of all categories and abilities who were struck down at the height of their careers.

The natural world is full of rhythms. How do birds know when to return to their nesting grounds? What effect do the seasons have on our wellbeing, and how does the season in which we are born affect our subsequent life chances? How did humans get the idea that there were seasons 50,000 years ago? Seasons of Life explains why the seasons occur, the impact of seasonal change and how organisms have evolved to anticipate these changes. For although we mask the effects of seasonal changes by warming our homes, lighting our nights, preserving foods and storing water, we cannot hide from them.

This antique text contains the first part of a four-part treatise on the keeping and management of pigeons. This part concentrates on subjects such as anatomy, physiology, kinds of pigeons, conformation, and the reproducers. The author of this book draws his knowledge from forty years worth of experience in the subject, and intended this book for the true pigeon fanciers who might benefit from his wealth of experience. The chapters of this book include: Anatomy and Physiology, The Skeleton, The Muscles, The Wings, The Organs of Digestion, The Organs of Respiration, The Circulation of the Blood, The Genital Organs, The Senses, Formation of the Pigeon, The Composition of the Body of the Pigeon, The Different Kinds of Pigeon, Different Kinds of Belgian Pigeons, The Present Day Races, The Belgian Carrier Pigeon, et cetera. This text has been elected for modern republication due to its educational value, and we are proud to republish it here complete with a new introduction on pigeons.

In these days of highly-paid football celebrities, Brian Owen isn’t a household name, yet over the course of the last six decades he has become the only man to have held four different positions; player, coach, scout and physiotherapist in all four divisions of the English Football League. This fascinating autobiography documents the fifty-five year career of a man whose face is well known at several professional clubs, and details Owen’s journey from promising young player to backroom legend. Owen’s infectious wit and wisdom means he has an unmatched store of anecdotes. He has seen it all, from the gritty surroundings of the lower divisions to the glamour of travelling with the senior England squad. After recording a lifetime of memories, Owen teams up with sportswriter Rob Hadgraft to tell his story in A Man for All Seasons. Containing fitting forewords by David Pleat and Phil Parkinson, this book pays tribute to one of the most popular, funniest and down-to-earth professionals ever to be involved with the beautiful game and is a must-read for football fans everywhere.

A lavishly illustrated introduction to the world's dragonflies and damselflies Dragonflies and damselflies are often called birdwatchers' insects. Large, brightly colored, active in the daytime, and displaying complex and interesting behaviors, they have existed since the days of the dinosaurs, and they continue to flourish. Their ancestors were the biggest insects ever, and they still impress us with their size, the largest bigger than a small hummingbird. There are more than 6,000 odonate species known at present, and you need only visit any wetland on a warm summer day to be enthralled by their stunning colors and fascinating behavior. In this lavishly illustrated natural history, leading dragonfly expert Dennis Paulson offers a comprehensive, accessible, and appealing introduction to the world's dragonflies and damselflies. The book highlights the impressive skills and abilities of dragonflies and damselflies--superb fliers that can glide, hover, cruise, and capture prey on the wing. It also describes their arsenal of tactics to avoid predators, and their amazing sex life, including dazzling courtship displays, aerial mating, sperm displacement, mate guarding, and male mimicry. Dragonflies and Damselflies includes profiles of more than fifty of the most interesting and beautiful species from around the world. Learn about the Great Cascade Damsel, which breeds only at waterfalls, the mesmerizing flight of Blue-winged Helicopters, and how the larva of the Common Sanddragon can burrow into sand as efficiently as a mole. Combining expert text and excellent color photographs, this is a must-have guide to these remarkable insects. A lavishly illustrated, comprehensive, and accessible natural history that reveals the beauty and diversity of one of the world's oldest and most popular insect groups Offers a complete guide to the evolution, life cycles, biology, anatomy, behavior, and habitats of dragonflies and damselflies Introduces the 39 families of dragonflies and damselflies through exemplary species accounts Features tips on field observation and lab research, and information on threats and conservation