On the Wing: To the Edge of the Earth with the Peregrine Falcon.

ON THE WING: To the Edge of the Earth with the Peregrine Falcon 

ALAN TENNANT

On the surface, this tale reads as if Hunter S. Thompson decided to pursue a passion for endangered birds. Tennant gets a taste for chasing down the migration path of an arctic peregrine falcon as he rides with a group of Army researchers. Afterward, he strikes out on his own to learn more. He employs the services of a World War II combat-flight instructor who flies a battered, single-engine Cessna. Using transmitters heisted from the Army, the duo begins the trek in Padre Island, Texas, where Tennant radio tags a peregrine falcon that then leads the men to the Arctic and then back sooth through Mexico and Belize, and into the Caribbean. During their travels, they are mistaken for law enforcement officers, encounter menacing animals, and endure treacherous weather conditions that lead to a number of harrowing and sometimes humorous adventures. Tennant is a gifted naturalist, however, who details his unprecedented efforts to follow the entire migration route of the peregrine falcon. He carefully documents the bird's travels and behaviors and assesses its survival as a species. Knopf, 2004, 304 p., color plates, hardcover, $25.00.