Colophon

Colophon

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The animal on the cover of Learning XSLT is a Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus ). Among the largest flying birds in the world, the Marabou stork's flight capability is facilitated by hollow toe bones, which are an important adaptation for flight, considering its large size. The adult male's wingspan is approximately 9.5 feet (2.9 meters). He can stand up to 5 feet tall (1.5 meters) and weigh 20 pounds (9 kilograms). The size and wingspan of females are generally smaller.

Native to the marshes and savannahs of Africa, Marabou storks can also be found near landfills, abattoirs, and fishing villages. Marabous have adapted well to human growth and activity, which has benefited the thriving species. Because they ingest bacterial waste, Marabou storks help humans by reducing the spread of disease, and thus, they are important predators. Their powerful beaks break through the rough hides of rotting mammal carcasses, which speeds up the decomposition process and enables weaker scavengers to feast on the dead fleash. Marabous are attracted to grass fires, where they hunt the small animals fleeing from the blaze. They will eat almost any kind of animal, dead or alive, from caterpillars to flamingos to elephants. These hefty protein diets are necessary for adult Marabous; they require over 25 ounces (700 grams) of food a day.

Marabous are large carnivores, notoriously ugly, not only because of their unsavory habits, including squirting excrement onto their own legs, but also because of their featherless, scabby, pink heads and necks speckled with dark pigmentation spots. Interestingly, Marabous evolved bald heads to avoid getting their feathers soiled by the bloody carnage of successful scavenging expeditions. In breeding season, the bare neck turns a pale blue-green, and the spots on the head and neck become encrusted with dried blood. Although the birds are generally considered unsightly, their soft, white tail feathers, called marabou, were once fashionable as trim for hats and gowns.

Marabou storks are colonial breeders, and they will return to the same community nesting site year after year. The male Marabou stork arrives at the nesting site first, in order to establish his territory. As he treats all newcomers with hostility, the courting female responds with submission, waiting to be accepted as his mate. Like lobsters, penguins, and most bird species, Marabou storks mate for life. Females usually lay 2 to 3 eggs during a breeding season that both parents will help incubate for 29 to 31 days. Marabous nest in the dry season when low water levels make it easier to catch prey, such as frogs and small fish, to feed their young. The relatively long pre-fledgling period lasts 95 to 115 days. Marabous reach sexual maturity at approximately four years of age. In zoos, and possibly in the wild, Marabou storks can live up to 25 years.

Marlowe Shaeffer was the production editor and copyeditor for Learning XSLT. Mary Brady was the proofreader. Emily Quill and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. John Bickelhaupt wrote the index.

Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Joe Wizda to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Marlowe Shaeffer.

The online edition of this book was created by the Safari production group (John Chodacki, Becki Maisch, and Ellie Cutler) using a set of Frame-to-XML conversion and cleanup tools written and maintained by Erik Ray, Benn Salter, John Chodacki, and Jeff Liggett.