Birds of Prey (Smith novel) Birds of Prey (Smith novel) Birds of Prey is a 1997 novel by Wilbur Smith set in the late 17th century. The novel was the first in the third sequence of the Courtney series of novels, and as of 2013 was chronologically the first in the entire series. Smith says the book established the characteristics of the family: "Right from "Birds of Prey"... the Courtneys were pirates, merchants, looking to seize the main chance. They were very much driven by monetary considerations. But with the Ballantynes it was much more empire, patriotism, glory – the soldierly virtues." In 1667 Holland
Novel world method their warning signals (see e.g. ). The novel world was first developed by professor Rauno Alatalo and professor Johanna Mappes to circumvent the methodological problem that predators such as adult birds may possess learned information about prey colours, and juvenile birds may also have genetically transmitted knowledge: bird species can, for instance, have innate tendencies to avoid certain colours. By bringing the predator into a novel environment where its knowledge about prey appearance had been nullified, the researchers aimed at a better understanding of the selection pressures that the first warning signals emerging in a prey population could have faced.