Colophon

The animal on the cover of PHP Web Services is an alpine accentor (Prunella collaris). This bird inhabits the mountain ranges of southern Europe, Asia, and Lebanon, favoring heights above 2,000 meters; it has actually been spotted near the top of Mount Everest at nearly 8,000 meters.

Alpine accentors are drab in color, with a gray head and breast, brown-streaked back, and reddish-brown spotted underparts. They are typically 15–17 centimeters long, weighing up to 35 grams. Sharp, pointed bills help them sustain their diet of ground-dwelling insects, spiders, earthworms, and plant seeds.

They are noted for their unconventional breeding systems: they mate in polygynandrous groups, usually consisting of up to four males and four females, which often produces mixed paternity within broods. Females build nests sheltered by bushes or rock crevices and lay approximately four sky-blue eggs. Males will sometimes help feed nestlings, if they have mated with the female and thereby assume paternity. Accentors may have two to three broods per year.

The cover image is from Wood’s Animate Creation. The cover font is Adobe ITC Garamond. The text font is Adobe Minion Pro; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is Dalton Maag’s Ubuntu Mono.