The animal on the cover of SEO Warrior is an Eleonora's falcon (Falco eleonorae). It is named after Eleonor of Arborea (1347-1404), national heroine of the Italian island of Sardinia, who was the first to legislate protection of falcons.

Eleonora's falcon is a medium-sized bird of prey, 14-17 inches long with a 35-40 inch wingspan. It is fast and aerobatic, with pointed wings, a long tail, and a slender body. The species occurs in two different color forms, light and dark, and is distinguished from other falcon species by its unusually dark underwing feathers. It breeds predominantly on Mediterranean islands, as do two-thirds of the world's falcon population. The small Greek island of Tilos is the breeding area for 10 percent, or about 650 pairs, of the total Eleonora's falcon population.

This falcon nests in colonies on coastal cliffs, where it spends much of its time hunting tired migrating birds. It also eats large insects, such as dragonflies, by catching them in its talons and transferring them to its beak in mid-flight. Eleonora's falcon migrates very long distances, typically wintering in Madagascar. Its migration route was once thought to be coastal, but satellite tracking has found that it takes a longer inland route through the Sahara Desert. It can cover up to 5,600 miles on a single one-way trip.

The cover image is from the Dover Pictorial Archive. The cover font is Adobe ITC Garamond. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSansMonoCondensed.