Yes - thanks Jim. I can't wait to review the Brant's series; however I
can't seem to find it at the birdzilla site you referred to. Any
hints on to how to find it there?
-John Hartog
--- In "M, J, & V Phinney"
<> wrote:
>
> 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 no
> 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 of 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 duck
> > with their heads sank, and their necks drawn back, and in this
attitude they
> > 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 bills up
> > their breasts. This motion is performed with somewhat of a jerk,
and if one
> > 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 one
> > 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 his
> > 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 an
> > effort to utter. Following this, the mallards lower their breasts
and raise
> > their tails two or three times in quick succession; and this,
which we may
> > 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 out,
> > is action No. 4, and this is followed quickly by action No. 5 in
which the
> > 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 books
> > 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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