A BIRD'S BODY

Like Cole and Wexler's The Home's Body, The Cat's Body, and others, this takes a close look at anatomical features and relates them to the job they're fit for--in this case, flying. Focusing on a parakeet and a cockatiel--expert flyers in the wild, Cole informs readers who'll have seen them only in cages--the text and pictures concentrate on the bird's flight feathers, consider its bones, and show how these structures help the bird to fly: not by ""rowing"" through the air as was once believed, but ""almost the same way that propeller airplanes do."" A bird's digestive system, heart, and lungs are seen in terms of the energy needs of a flying animal, and the introduction winds up with a look at birds' senses, reproductive patterns, and early development. It's all done with the close working relationship between text and pictures (photos and drawings) that distinguishes the series.