DIVORCE AMONG THE GULLS: An Uncommon Look...

DIVORCE AMONG THE GULLS: An Uncommon Look at Human Nature by William Jordan (HarperPerennial: $10.). Although they offer few insights into human nature, Jordan’s informal essays about various aspects of biology offer pleasant reading. He discusses why gorillas in zoos have problems when they mate (because they haven’t been properly socialized, the animals don’t know how to care for their young), and explains how an ichthyologist proved that electric rays are active hunters, rather than passive bottom-dwellers. An entomologist by profession, Jordan shares the wonder he experienced when he discovered an ordinary alfalfa field encompassed a complex, microcosmic world. However, his most interesting essays focus on the behaviors that enable animals to survive in the paved world of Southern California, either by accepting the velvet prison of domestication or by learning to cohabit with humans, despite their objections--a strategy adopted by opossums, parrots, coyotes, feral cats and roof rats.