The upper ridges of her [the mother raptor's] skull were pronounced like a gorilla's— thrusts of brow overhanging hugely swollen and yellow eyes. Her teeth were bared, thick jagged points that meshed perfectly into a hideous smile. A dark band ran from her head down to the tip of her thick, rigid tail.

In the dark of night, in an isolated house, this is what Zack and Uta see, the mother of the egg they took to Zack's home. The mother raptor is an important character, not a mindless monster, but someone with personality. She is impatient and lethal; she is also decisive, going after Professor Norak the instant she realizes he is near her nest.

She also couples motherly concern for her brood with determination—she tracks her missing egg a long way before finding it in Zack's house. This also...