This monograph is aptly titled for its ghostly topic, a bird that was largely hidden from science until the 1880s, and that continues to frustrate biologists and birders alike with its disappearing acts and ability to remain out of sight. As the author notes, “pairs would often vanish from view for a month or more at a time and suddenly reappear right where they were last seen.” Not only a xerophile, but an extremophile, the LeConte’s Thrasher lives in the hottest and driest deserts of the Southwest and spends most of its time on the ground.