"Pueblo Indians for centuries built their terraced villages without openings in the walls, for better defense against enemy tribes; ladders gave access to openings in the roofs. Resisting the white man's influence, many Taos Indians choose to live without telephones, electricity, or running water."
　　(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, the National Geographic book The Majestic Rocky Mountains, 1976)
　　

An Anhinga梐 pelican relative梥tretches its wings to dry its feathers.
　　Anhinga's feathers are not as waterproof as some other waterbirds. This makes them less buoyant and enables them to dive deeper in search of food. The birds' feathers can become waterlogged, however, and Anhinga are often seen perched with their wings outstretched to dry.
　　
　　(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "South to the Keys," January/February 1999, National Geographic Traveler magazine)
　　

A serene scene belies the thriving nightlife and culture of the up-and-coming neighborhood around Beijing's Houhai Lake.
　　(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Heart of the Celestial Empire," September 1998, National Geographic Traveler magazine)
　　

Often found in large flocks, flamingos spend much of their time performing breeding displays, often together in a series of synchronized movements.
　　(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, the National Geographic book Majestic Island Worlds, 1987)
　　

Baffin Island is the fifth largest island in the world. Mountain ranges here measure over 8,000 feet (2,440 meters) high. However, the Inuit peoples who inhabit the island generally live at coastal trading posts.
　　(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Hitting the Wall: First Ascent of a Baffin Island Peak," January 1999, National Geographic magazine)
　　

An artist displays his wares along the banks of the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia. The city is situated in the delta of the Neva River and is built on a series of islands.
　　(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Catherine the Great," September 1998, National Geographic magazine)
　　

Winter can be a difficult time for rabbits like these Eastern Cottontails. With their preferred food sources unavailable, they forage farther and expose themselves to greater danger. Rabbits are a favorite prey species of many predators, such as hawks, owls, and foxes, and their life expectancy in the wild is short.
　　(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Aluminum, the Magic Metal," August 1978, National Geographic magazine)
　　

A Bengal tigress called Sita rests with one of her trio of six-month-old cubs.
　　
　　Named after a Hindu goddess, Sita was admired by visitors to India's Bandhavgarh National Park for her keen hunting skills and fierce devotion to her young. Conservationists valued her prolific breeding; during her life she bolstered the local population with six litters.
　　
　　Poachers are believed to have killed Sita in 2000.
　　(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Making Room for Wild Tigers," December 1997, National Geographic magazine)
　　

Twilight lingers over the tomb of Ramses III in the Valley of Kings in Luxor, Egypt.
　　Between 1539 and 1078 B.C. practically all pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings. Most tombs had been ransacked by the time archaeologists began excavating in the early 1800s, but so many tombs, temples, shrines, and other ruins blanket Luxor that Egyptologists have been kept busy here for two centuries.
　　
　　(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Valley of the Kings," September 1998, National Geographic magazine)
　　

Buddhist monks walk beside a field of sunflowers in northern Thailand.
　　Opium poppies once covered the hillsides here, and sunflower fields like this one often grow from seeds dumped over the fields in an attempt to eradicate the poppies. Strict laws and alternate agricultural opportunities for farmers have helped bring an end to most of Thailand's opium production. The opium trade continues, however, with poppies grown in neighboring Myanmar (Burma) and elsewhere.
　　
　　(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, The Many Faces of Thailand," February 1996, National Geographic magazine)