Take flight with Gay-Neck, the passenger pigeon with a shimmery throat, his kind young master and Ghond, the wildlife expert, on their adventures in a village, across the Himalayas and to a battlefield in France. In this heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking tale, soar through Gay-Neck s encounters with hawks and eagles, his quests with the swifts and a monk, and finally his heroic service as a bearer of messages filled with love and courage during the First World War. A prequel to Gay-Neck s internationally renowned story, Ghond the Hunter focuses on the first fifteen years in the life of Gay-Neck s trainer, Ghond. The young boy s initiation into forest life, his understanding of dangerous animals, his run-ins with eagles, snakes and tigers, and his experiences with his pet panther make for this riveting tale of a master hunter. This special edition brings together two classic stories Gay-Neck, the Story of a Pigeon and Ghond the Hunter by Dhan Gopal Mukerji, the only Indian to have won the John Newbery Medal. Describing animal life with nail-biting realism, Dhan Gopal Mukerji s stories take you to a place where the feral meets the tame, man meets nature, and all that matters is the law of the jungle!