Birds, Bees and Educated Fleas

An amusing A to Z of the courtship and mating habits of animals—including Homo sapiens.

"Birds do it, bees do it, Even educated fleas do it." So wrote Cole Porter in his famous song from 1928, "Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love." To which Bruce Montague, author of this enlightening and amusing collection, silently replied, "Yes, but how do they do it?"

From well-hung South American drakes to shy camels arranging secret love trysts, female chameleons whose skin darkens when they're no longer in the mood to giraffes who swing their hips and swish their tails when they're feeling frisky, oysters that can change sex pretty much at will to stud rhinoceroses that can copulate three or four times a day for a week, this is a wide ranging, light-hearted but well-researched look at the world of animal love and lust.

Arranged alphabetically by species, here is the perfect handbook for anyone who wants to know what goes on in the animal world behind the—metaphorical—bedroom curtains.