Created for the "Paper Museum" of scholar and collector Cassiano dal Pozzo, naturalist Pietro Olina's Uccelliera of 1622 harkens back to ornithology's earliest days, when folklore informed natural history studies as much as science did. With meditations on the "epileptic" robin redbreast and a recipe for chickpea pasta meant to satisfy a nightingale and keep it in song, this handsome book features a foreword by the author of H Is for Hawk and watercolors of 40 species, including the quail, the hoopoe, the starling, and the kingfisher.