Most Remarkable Creature By Meiburg, Jonathan

An enthralling voyage of discovery to meet a rare and mysterious bird of prey that puzzled Darwin, fascinates modern-day falconers, and carries secrets of our planet''s deep past in its family history.

In 1833, Charles Darwin was astonished by a ''mischievous'' animal he met in the Falklands: rare, crow-like falcons known today as striated caracaras. These clever, fearless birds of prey stole hats and valuables from the crew of the Beagle, and they seemed unusually interested in humans. Darwin couldn''t understand why they were confined to a set of remote islands; but he set this mystery aside, and never returned to it.

Almost two centuries later, Jonathan Meiburg takes up the chase. He travels through South America in search of striated caracaras and their close relatives, from the fog-bound coasts of Tierra del Fuego to the tropical forests of the Guiana Shield, and reveals the wild and surprising story of their origins, their keen and flexible minds, and their possible futures.

''Fascinating'' Margaret Atwood, West End Phoenix

''Hugely entertaining and enlightening'' Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Genius of Birds