Colophon

The animal on the cover of Security for Web Developers is a bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), which is also known as a lammergeier or ossifrage. The bearded vulture is a bird of prey, eats mostly carrion, and lives in the mountainous areas of southern Europe, the Caucasus, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Tibet.

Being a scavenger means that the bearded vulture subsists on a diet of the remains of dead animals. Instead of eating the meat, however, this bird prefers the bone marrow, which makes up 85%–90% of its diet. Occasionally, bearded vultures have been known to attack live animals, and they seem to have a preference for tortoises. They have been observed catching tortoises, bringing them to great heights, and dropping them to split the shells and access the soft body underneath.

Bearded vultures can be anywhere from 37 to 49 inches long and weigh up to 18 pounds. Females are slightly larger than males, and both members of a bonded pair contribute to building the enormous (up to 3.3 feet across) nest. Their long narrow wings make them easy distinguishable from other vulture species. Bearded vultures also do not have a bald head like many other types of vultures, and the species gets its name from the long black feathers under the chin.

Its large size and majestic presence have earned the bearded vulture a place in the mythologies of many societies. To Iranians, this bird is a symbol of luck and happiness, and it was believed that being under its shadow would predict a person’s rise to kingship. It is said that the Greek playwright Aeschylus was killed when an “eagle” dropped a tortoise on his head, mistaking his bald scalp for a stone. Given the region, time period, and behavior, the bearded vulture is a likely candidate for the “eagle” in the story. Also in Greece, the bearded vulture was one of the few species of birds that could be used to predict the future, the practice of which is called augury. Finally, in both the Bible and Torah, the bearded vulture is among the birds that people were forbidden to eat.

Many of the animals on O’Reilly covers are endangered; all of them are important to the world. To learn more about how you can help, go to animals.oreilly.com.

The cover fonts are URW Typewriter and Guardian Sans. The text font is Adobe Minion Pro; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is Dalton Maag’s Ubuntu Mono.