Games, Diversions & Perl Culture

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.

The animal on the cover of Games, Diversions, and Perl Culture: Best of the Perl Journal is a flying dragon (genus draco). Found in the tropical rain forests of the East Indies and Southern Asia, this small lizard has five or six hind ribs on each side that are prolonged and covered with weblike skin, forming “wings.” While jumping, the lizard spreads its wings and glides to the ground; it can generally glide almost nine yards. Gliding is used only as a means of locomotion and not for predator escape; to escape danger, the lizard always climbs. The lizard also never glides when it’s raining or windy.

A flying dragon feeds mostly on small ants and termites and is described as a sit-and-wait feeder. It will sit next to a tree trunk waiting for insects to come to it.

A female flying dragon builds a nest for her eggs by forcing her head into the soil to create a small hole. She then lays five eggs into the hole and covers them with dirt, packing the soil on top with a patting motion of her head. The eggs take approximately 32 days to incubate.

Humans don’t eat flying dragons, and they aren’t currently listed as threatened.

Jane Ellin was the production editor and proofreader for Games, Diversions, and Perl Culture: Best of the Perl Journal ...