King Solomon's Ring

This German zoologist discovered “imprinting” in birds and was often photographed waddling in his backyard, followed by a gaggle of goslings who mistook him for their mother. Lorenz was convinced that avian species experience emotions like love and grief, describing the mating rituals of jackdaws in terms touchingly evocative of human sweethearts. “Remarkable and exceedingly comical is the difference in eloquence between the eye-play of the wooing male and that of the courted female: the male jackdaw casts glowing glances straight into his loved one’s eyes, while she apparently turns her eyes in all directions other than that of her… show more.

Lorenz shared the 1973 Nobel Prize with Niko Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch for elevating the study of animal behavior. I love this book because, while Lorenz often writes densely about theory, here he lets us in on his intimate relationships with geese, ravens, jackdaws, dogs, and other animals. By raising and living with all manner of beasts, they become like Lorenz’s family. This deep familiarity enables Lorenz to explore their world as a partner and relate to us an understanding as if speaking with the animal itself.