Host to a large and diverse bird population as well as a long human history, Virginia is arguably the birthplace of ornithology in North America. This book is the result of over a decade of research, and is the first book to address this fascinating element of the state's natural history. Tertiary era fossils show that birds inhabited Virginia as early as 65 million years ago. Their first human observers were the region's many Indian tribes and, later, colonists on Roanoke Island and in Jamestown.