Booming from the Mists of Nowhere: The Story of the Greater Prairie-ChickenBooming from the Mists of Nowhere: The Story of the Greater Prairie-Chicken by Greg Hoch. 2015. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, IA, USA. xiii + 126 pp., 10 figures. $19.95. ISBN 978-1-60938-387-9 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-60938-388-6 (ebook).

Booming from the Mists of Nowhere: The Story of the Greater Prairie-Chicken by Greg Hoch. 2015. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, IA, USA. xiii þ 126 pp., 10 figures. $19.95. ISBN 978-1-60938387-9 (paperback), ISBN 9781-60938-388-6 (ebook). In this easy-to-read narrative, Greg Hoch skillfully intersperses personal experiences among selected historical accounts to describe prairie-chicken biology and management. He describes the time when prairies covered the middle third of the country and Greater PrairieChickens (Tympanuchus cupido) were as bountiful as the prairie wind. After reading the vivid accounts, it is easy to imagine being a settler who experienced prairiechickens commingling with domestic chickens, roving a freshly harvested field, being a source of income as a food commodity, becoming dinner during the bleak winter months, and heralding renewed energy when their plaintive booms marked the beginning of spring. The author’s personal experiences reveal a passion for prairiechickens that will inspire the reader to experience these birds firsthand. Hoch’s stated purpose for this book is threefold: (1) ‘‘to introduce readers to a somewhat neglected member of a somewhat neglected ecosystem’’; (2) ‘‘to introduce some basic concepts of population, community, and landscape ecology, as well as conservation biology and wildlife management’’; and (3) to review Greater Prairie-Chicken biology, history, and management (in hopes that the latter will contribute to the conservation conversation about this species). Hoch accomplishes the first goal by describing the dynamics of the prairie ecosystem and the natural history of Greater PrairieChickens with vivid and scientifically accurate imagery. In Chapter 1, he refers to the prairie-chicken as ‘‘a child of sullen winter grasses’’ (Quayle 1905) that, however, ‘‘enacts his part in a manner not surpassed in pomposity by any other bird’’ (Audubon 1831) during the breeding season. In Chapter 2, he discusses the dynamic prairie ecosystem and how it is shaped by weather, grazing, and fire. This chapter is a must-read for those unfamiliar with the tremendous diversity of prairie plants and the factors shaping this ecosystem. Chapter 3 is focused on the social interactions that occur on the lek. Hoch remarkably describes the purpose of communal display, and he describes the experience of observing it as ‘‘watching evolution happen.’’ In Chapter 4, he describes the life of the Greater Prairie-Chicken from the female’s perspective,