Tcl/Tk in a Nutshell

Colophon

The bird featured on the cover of Tck/Tk in a Nutshell is an ibis. There are over 30 species of these wading birds distributed throughout the world, primarily in the warmer and tropical regions. All ibises have long, narrow, sharply turned-down bills that they use to probe for insects, mollusks, and small crustaceans in mud or dirt. They are strong fliers and swimmers, and most prefer living in the wetlands near fresh or salt water, marshes, and swamps. They are very sociable and gregarious birds who nest in large colonies and travel in flocks. When flying, all members of the flock alternate wing beats with gliding at approximately the same rate.

Fossils indicate that ibises have existed for about 60 million years, and records of human interaction with ibises dates back 5,000 years. In ancient Egypt, the ibis was revered as the embodiment of Thoth, god of wisdom and scribe of the gods. They are frequently depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphics, and cemeteries of mummified ibises have been discovered.

Today, the most widely distributed of all ibis species is the glossy ibis. The glossy ibis is the last species of ibis known to exist in Europe and has spread to Africa, parts of Asia, and the Americas. The most common species in the Americas is the white ibis, which has gradually spread northward and is now found as far north as Maine.

Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Kathleen Wilson produced the cover ...