<DIV>For thirty years, journalist Mark Cocker has been a member of a community of fanatics who sacrifice most of their spare time, a good deal of money, sometimes their chances of a partner or family, even their lives, to watch birds. In Birders, Cocker not only introduces lay-readers to the venerable art of birding but shares some of the incredible tales previously circulated only among "the loop," involving unforgettable -- and sometimes deadly -- encounters with everything from pipits, puffins, and plovers to border-patrol officers and horseback bandits. And then there is his personal journey, which began when he discovered a nest of pigeon eggs in his family attic and soon led to the fetishism of his binoculars (or rather, "bins").</div>