Born in Fargo, North Dakota, PAUL JOHNSGARD is Foundation Professor of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska — Lincoln. One of the world's foremost authorities on ornithology and bird behavior, his thirty-four books include The Niobrara: A River Running Through Time, Song of the North Wind: A Story of the Snow Goose (1974), Those of the Gray Wind: The Sandhill Cranes (1981), and The Platte: Channels in Time (1984). He was educated at North Dakota State University (BS), Washington State University (MS), and Cornell University (PhD). His recent book, This Fragile Land: A Natural History of the Nebraska Sandhills (1995), "is an extended love letter to the Sandhills region and its people, plants, and animals." His primary interest is the comparative behavior of birds. His field work has taken him to North and South America, Australia, and Europe. He wrote the script for "A Passion for Birds," aired as part of the PBS Nature special "Cranes of the Grey Wind" (1990). Among his many books is a whimsical volume on dragons and unicorns, co-authored with his daughter. He is the author, most recently, of Prairie Birds: Fragile Splendor in the Great Plains (UP of Kansas, 2001).