Thank You, Jim, for that link! I've been looking for the complete Bent
series on-line. I love the writing style of the Bent series. The Birds of
North America series sponsored by Cornell & the AOU are updated and more
'scientific' but sometimes it's hard to stay awake reading them...there's n=
o
comparison to the imagery created by passages like the one below.
Mark Phinney
on 11/9/05 9:08 AM, Jim Morgan at wrote:
> I checked Bent's "Life Histories of North American Birds" and found the
> following information on Mallard whistle calls:
>
> "Mr. II. Wormald (1910) has given a detailed account of the court- ship o=
f the
> mallard, illustrated with excellent drawings, to which I refer the reader=
. He
> says:
> The performance usually begins by four or five drakes swimming round a du=
ck
> with their heads sank, and their necks drawn back, and in this attitude t=
hey
> have the appearance of being most unconcerned. This I will call action No=
. 1.
> After swimming round iii this fashion for some little time, the mallards =
will
> suddenly lower their bills so that the tips of them are under the surface=
, and
> as they do so they stand up in the water and then rapidly pass their bill=
s up
> their breasts. This motion is performed with somewhat of a jerk, and if o=
ne
> observes very closely, a tiny jet of water will be seen to be thrown out =
in
> front by the bill being jerked from the water; this is interesting, as on=
e
> also finds this jet of water in the spring "show " of the golden-eye, but=
in
> this case calls made by the drake kicking out a small jet of water with h=
is
> foot while he quickly throws back his head.
>
> The mallard while performing action No. 2 as I will designate it, utters =
a low
> note rather difficult to describe, but I think it may be said to be a low
> whistle with a suspicion of a groan in it, as though it caused the bird a=
n
> effort to utter. Following this, the mallards lower their breasts and rai=
se
> their tails two or three times in quick succession; and this, which we ma=
y
> call action No. S is often followed by a repetition of actions Nos. I and=
2. A
> quick "throw up" of head and tail, with the feathers of the head puffed o=
ut,
> is action No. 4, and this is followed quickly by action No. 5 in which th=
e
> drakes stretch out their necks with their throats just over the water and=
swim
> rapidly about in different directions, when, apparently by common consent=
,
> they all come back to action No. I, and go through the whole performance =
over
> again."
>
> I personally have only heard and recorded quacks from Mallards but my
> experience is very limited.
>
> BTW, Birdzilla http://www.birdzilla.com/ has the complete Bent's "Life
> Histories of North American Birds" on line, and since this series of bo=
oks
> are a government publication they are not affected by copyright law.
>
> Jim
>
> Jim Morgan
> Prescott, Arizona USA
> http://www.wingsofnature.com
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> "Microphones are not ears,
> Loudspeakers are not birds,
> A listening room is not nature."
> Klas Strandberg
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
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