The southern regions of the USSR are a paradise for birds. The careful investigation conducted by Soviet scholars in collaboration with Belgian scholars and filmmakers illustrates the habits, origins, migratory movements, nesting, sympathies, adversities, and dramas that occur among these airborne inhabitants. The species illustrated include pelicans, cormorants, flat-billed spoonbills, crows, and others. Eagles and sparrowhawks are the elements that disturb the tranquility of this corner of the world at the mouth of the Volga.