bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
PALAEARCTIC MIGRANTS IN NIGERIA
Authors: Elgood J. H. , Sharland R. E. , Ward P. 
Published: April 2008

SUMMARYAn account is given of the topography, climate and vegetation belts of Nigeria to illuminate the ecology of the Palaearctic migrants to the country.The faunistic relationship of the resident and migrant avifauna is considered and it is shown that approximately one species in six is migrant. It is shown that the more arid vegetation belts support the largest numbers of migrant species, the forest belt supporting only very few species. Some species appear to overfly the most northern areas.Rather few observations of visual migration are available but those known are recorded. A summary of ringing recoveries affecting Nigeria is given and it is shown that there is clear evidence of species returning to the same wintering grounds each year.The status of 135 migrant species is briefly treated and other species are mentioned where negative information is valuable. Calandrella rufescens, Cyanosylvia svecica, and Emberiza hortulana, notmentioned by Bannerman (1930‐53) are included and Cettia cetti is recorded from West Africa for the first time. Several species have had their range extended to include Nigeria.A comparison of breeding areas with the Mediterranean/Sahara crossing zones and Nigerian occurrences shows that most terrestrial species in Nigeria move fairly closely to the lines of longitude. Many aquatics, mostly herons and ducks, breed much to the east of the longitude of Nigeria.It is suggested that the unexpected number of Palaearctic migrants which winter in the arid north of Nigeria indicates that food is less scarce than the appearance of the country in the late dry season indicates. There is a great need for an ornithological and ecological research station in Nigeria in an area such as southwest Lake Chad.
POLYMORPHISM AND PARALLELISM IN THE AFRICAN BUSH‐SHRIKES OF THE GENUS MALACONOTUS (INCLUDING CHLOROPHONEUS)
Authors: Hall B. P. , Moreau R. E. , Galbraith I. C. J. 
Published: April 2008

SUMMARYPART 1Remarkable parallelism exists between two groups of shrikes in the genus Malaconotus: (1) small‐billed birds (formerly Chlorophoneus) comprising the polymorphic species multicolor and nigrifrons, the dimorphic olivaceus and the monomorphic sulfureopectus; (2) large‐billed birds (formerly Malaconotus sensu stricto)—of the species blanchoti, cruentus, lagdeni, gladiator and alius (and including monteiri).Characters and ranges of the various species are set out and parallelisms between the two groups are listed. M. monteiri is thought to be a colour phase of cruentus rather than a race of blanchoti.It is suggested that the parallelisms are due to the two groups having derived from a common ancestor and that the existing “Malaconotus”, which are monomorphic, may derive directly from polymorphic ancestral stock.part 2The polymorphism in “Chlorophoneus” can be accounted for by three genes with two alleles each, all interacting with polygenic systems. The homology of the morphs with the colour patterns of monomorphic populations is discussed, and their distributions in the two groups summarised.The interaction of polymorphism with continuous variation in determining the proportion of red to yellow carotenoid is discussed.The evidence bearing upon the status of monteiri is considered.The difference in the incidence of polymorphism between the groups is considered in the light of the analysis into dimorphisms.Some suggestions are made on the significance of parallels between the groups.
BIRD RECORDS FROM SOUTHWESTERN ECUADOR
Authors: Mills Eric L. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryObservations are given for 25 species of birds seen in southwestern Ecuador or just offshore near the mouth of the Gulf of Guayaquil to supplement the records of Marchant (1958) and Lévêque (1964). Of the 25 species listed, 19 are sea‐birds and a number are species not commonly reported from the area. Two records of the Antarctic Fulmar Fulmarus glacbloides are given, one of which may be the first for Ecuador. The presence of Sooty Terns Sterna fuscata and possibly a few Brown Boobies Sula leucogaster just north of the Santa Elena Peninsula is unusual and was probably the result of an incursion of warm water from the west or north. In May 1966 450 + boobies, 10 Sooty Terns and 350 Brown Pelicans were counted on Isla Pelado (El Viejo) in Bahia de Santa Elena.
PNEUMATIZATION OF THE CRANIUM OF THE ZEBRA FINCH TAENIOPYGIA CASTANOTIS
Authors: Serventy D. L. , Nicholls C. A. , Farner Donald S. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryThe process of cranial pneumatization in the Zebra Finch Taeniopygia castanotis is substantially similar to that described in the House Sparrow Passer domesticus, but is completed somewhat earlier. Full pneumatization of the cranium is usually attained between 138 and 153 days from hatching, though in some birds it may be retarded. A series of diagrams, representing 41 stages in the process, enables the ages of young birds to be established.
WEIGHTS OF THE CARMINE BEE‐EATER MEROPS NUBZCOZDES
Authors: Britton P. L. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryA total of 912 Carmine Bee‐eater Merops nubicoides weights were obtained at Beatrice, Rhodesia in November 1963, September 1964 and Novembels‐pecember 1965. On average the birds weighed least in the early morning and most in the late evening. Some interesting peculiaritiee in the diurnal rhythm of weights are correlated with feeding activity and the feeding of young.There was no clear correlation between air temperature and weight. It is suggested that an inverse correlation between temperature and weight is obscured by the fact that temperature has a direct effect on food supply and this in turn influences weights. Mean weights varied significantly with variation in food supply; one particular instance of the effect of a special food supply on weights is discussed in detail.Birds were heavier in November (rainy season) than in September (dry season). It is suggested that food is not readily available in September and that this weight change is a response to improved food‐supplies.On average, the mean juvenile weight is 82% of the mean adult weight. The weights of five juveniles, known to be out of the nest for eight days or less, varied by as much as 56% of the lowest.
WATER‐BIRDS OVER THE SAHARA
Authors: Moreau R. E. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryAn investigation is made of the extent to which Palaearctic birds belonging to typically water‐bird families occur south of the Sahara in areas remote from both the sea and the Nile, namely, Darfur, Northern Nigeria and the Inundation Zone of the Niger, and hence may be presumed to cross the Sahara. Fifty‐seven species fall to be considered and for these occurrences within the Sahara are also collated. The results owe a great deal to work done in the last few years, especially ringing.Most of the 57 species dealt with occur regularly in appreciable numbers in one or more of the areas under consideration and some of the species are enormously common. In general there is evidence to show that many birds winter in Africa far to the west of their Palaearctic breeding grounds, from which much diagonal passage of the Sahara is to be inferred.The results are considered in relation to the ecological conditions on the northern and southern edges of the desert and in relation to the meteorological conditions over it. A remarkable circumstance is that few water‐birds indeed of any species have been observed in the oases of the Sahara,so that their crossing of the desert is clearly very efficient, although so much of it is by lengthy diagonal and although many birds entering Africa in the middle longitudes meet with no suitable habitat between Europe and the tropics. Except perhaps for storks, which soar, and certainly for herons, which proceed by heavy flapping, the air speed of water‐birds is much greater than that of the small passerine migrants, the necessary potentiality of which has been calculated as 50–60 hours of flight without refuelling; but too little is known of the aerodynamics and physiology involved for it to be calculated whether water‐birds need to start with the comparable accumulations of fat and no definite information exists except for the Wood Sandpiper, which has been shown to put on up to 32% of fat. By comparison with passerines, more individual water‐bird species winter partly north and partly south of the Sahara; the factors affecting each bird's behaviour in this respect are unknown.
THE PALATE OF THE RED‐NECKED NIGHTJAR CAPRIMULGUSRUFICOLLIS WITH A DESCRIPTION OF A NEW FEATURE
Authors: Cowles Graham S. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryThe transpalatine canal and the associated vascular system of the palatine region in the Rednecked Nightjar Caprimulgus ruficollis is described. It is suggested that the specialized type of palate lining may be an adaptation for nocturnal aerial feeding.
SUMMER RECORDS FROM WEST‐SPITSBERGEN, 1964
Authors: Ogilvie M. A. , Taylor R. J. F. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryAn expedition studying geese spent six weeks in the summer of 1964 on the west coast of West‐Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The topography of the area is described. Observations were made on 28 species of birds and details of numbers and distribution are given for each. Counts were made over a period of a week of the numbers of Common Eider Somateria mollissima which began nesting in a small colony as the snow cleared from the ground. Weights and measurements were taken of Purple Sandpipers Calidris maritima and Glaucous Gulls Larus hyperboreus. One species new to Svalbard was seen, a Black‐headed Gull Larus ridibundus. Previously unrecorded breeding sites of Pink‐footed Geese Anser brachyrhynchus, and Barnacle Geese Branta leucopsis were found, and it is concluded that the further spread of the Barnacle Goose is probable. New sea‐bird colonies were also located.
TAXONOMY OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN ZOSTEROPS
Authors: Clancey P. A. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryThe four major groupings into which the Zosterops forms of southern African can be arranged have for long been treated by conservative systematists as constituting four discrete species (Z. capensis, Z. pallidus, Z. virens and Z. senegalensis).In a major study, published in 1957, Moreau arrived at the tentative conclusion that in zoo‐geographical South Africa Z. cupensis and Z. wirens are clearly conspecific, Z. pallidus is a doubtful monotypic species, and Z. senegalais is a polytypic species of wide continental range, specifically segregated from the foregoing on the basis of a wingltail ratio character, and of juxtaposition without evidence of interbreeding.A new study of the complex problem of Zosterops relationships in South Africa based on a critical study of over 900 specimens examined in the Durban Museum, suggests that only two species (Z. pallidus and Z. senegahsis), very closely related and part of the same superspecies, are actually involved.
DISTRIBUTION AND DISPERSAL OF CENTRAL PACIFIC LESSER FRIGATEBIRDS ‘FREGATA ARZEL*
Authors: Sibley Fred C. , Clapp Roger B. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryDuring the period from March 1963 to July 1965 the Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program made an extensive study of the islands of the Central Pacific in the area bounded by 10°N.,180° W., 10° S. and 150° W. In the course of this study much new information was obtained on the distribution and dispersal of the Lesser Frigatebird.We have found that Lesser Frigatebirds are an abundant and widely distributed breeding bird in the Central Pacific, although only once previously reported breeding.Most of the young Lesser Frigatebirds from the Phoenix Islands travel to the Solomon Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, or the Philippines. A few travel farther north to the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, Taiwan, and Siberia, and a few also move to areas southwest and southeast of the Phoenix Islands. Most of the dispersal to these latter areas apparently occurs earlier than the dispersal to the Solomons.The dispersal pattern may be dependent in part on the surface wind pattern.
TERMS, STUDIES AND EXPERIMENTS ON THE PROBLEMS OF BIRD DISPERSION*
Authors: Berndt Rudolf , Sternberg Helmut 
Published: April 2008

SummaryA terminology of the dispersion of birds, and of the ways in which it comes about, is proposed and explained. An examination of recoveries of ringed female Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca show that many first breed a considerable distance from their birthplace, in contrast to the situation in the Blue Tit Parus caeruleus and Nuthatch Sitta europaea. The degree of such dispersion in these species, and presumably therefore the gene flow, is inversely correlated with the number of geographical races they contain. Results of experiments designed to investigate the types of dispersion mechanism occurring in F. hypoleuca indicate that both “dispersal” and “spacing” occur in birds of all ages, and that they are usually not oriented, but that the spacing of older birds which have not been constantly faithful to place usually leads to a previously known place.
THE BIRDS OF THE ALA DAGH MOUNTAINS, SOUTHERN TURKEY
Authors: Gaston A. J. 
Published: April 2008

SUMMARYThe paper lists the birds seen on visits to the Ala Dagh Mountains, Southern Turkey, in September 1965 and June 1966. It also describes observations made on bird behaviour in relation to the environment, and the avifauna of the area is compared with other mountain regions in the western Palaearctic.
A HIGH ALTITUDE HUMMINGBIRD ON THE VOLCANO COTOPAXI
Authors: Smith G. T. Corley 
Published: April 2008

SummaryThis paper sets out the results of fairly regular observation of Oreotrochilus chimborazo on Mt Cotopaxi between 1964 and 1967.The species is found between 13,000 and 15,000 ft in a small area just south of the Equator where it nests on cliffs. Climate, terrain, food and nesting are described. Breeding continues throughout the year. Particular attention is given to the importance of nesting sites in this harsh climate and the consequent tendency towards colonial* nesting in favoured spots. The high degree of segregation between the sexes is also considered.A brief account is given of the O. chimborazo population in the Guamani pass on the rim of the Amazon basin, where climate and terrain have produced some differences in breeding habits.
FOOD AS A FACTOR CONTROLLING THE BREEDING OF PUFFINVS LHERMINIERI
Authors: Harris M. P. 
Published: April 2008

Summary.A study of Puffinus Iherminieri on Plaza Island, Galápagos, showed that, although eggs were laid in all months, there were marked peaks and troughs of laying. Intervals between successive layings varied with the success or failure of the first egg, an average of nine months for successful pairs, eight months for pairs which lost a young, and 6–5 months for those which failed to hatch an egg. However the breeding success did not influence the time between the end of one breeding attempt and the next laying. This suggests that birds were breeding as quickly as possible. The critical factor preventing more frequent breeding appeared to be the time required to replace the wing and tail feathers.Details are given of the breeding biology, all aspects of which were strongly influenced by frequent and unpredictable food shortages. The average incubation period was 49 days but this was prolonged by temporary desertion due to food shortages. Chick growth and fledging periods (62 to 100 days) were variable. There was no well–defined desertion period and birds were experimentally induced to feed young for up to 120 days.Overall nesting success was low (26%) and adult survival between breeding attempts was high (92–95%).Food, planktonic fish larvae and Crustacea, appeared to be rarely abundant and details are given of the effect of food shortage on the breeding.The breeding synchrony was brought about by food shortages. The ultimate factor controlling breeding appeared to be the availability of food for egg formation and there was no possibility of birds timing breeding so that young were being fed at a time of food abundance.A comparison is made of the breeding of eight Puffinus species.
ADAPTIVE RADIATION IN ALCIDAE
Authors: Bédard Jean 
Published: April 2008

Summary.Because of its homogeneity, both taxonomical and ecological, the sea‐bird family Alcidae constitutes an appropriate group for the study of adaptive radiation. This radiation involves mainly the acquisition of specialized feeding habits and the consequent specialization of the various species of the family at different trophic levels.The plankton‐feeders, exemplified by the Least Auklet Aethia pusilla, have a relatively wide beak with a fleshy tongue and a broad palate with numerous denticles. The fish‐feeders, exemplified by the Razorbill Alca torda, have a narrow bill, a certain degree of tongue cornification and few, but sharp and regularly arranged palatal denticles. A few species, including the puffins and one auklet (Cyclorrhynchus), have characteristics intermediate between these extremes and feed partly on fish and partly on plankton.Body‐size in the predator is related to the size of the prey and these relations are examined within the family. Within a group with similar adaptations, species which are alone in their niche in their area tend to be of intermediate body size for that group. Finally, though the family may exhibit a series of parallel trends in bill shape when the bill is considered as a social releaser, it exhibits a gradation in shape and structure (adaptive radiation) when considered as a food‐getting tool.
NOTES ON THE BIOLOGY AND ETHOLOGY OF THE NATAL ROBIN COSSYPHA NATALENSIS
Authors: Farkas Tibor 
Published: April 2008

Summary.A preference for bushy evergreen undergrowth determines both the local and the general distribution of Cossypha natalensis. The lack of such undergrowth makes equatorial rain‐forests unsuitable. Tropical and subtropical evergreen forests provide excellent conditions from this point of view, and they are thus the main habitat type from which C. natalensis has secondarily extended into tropical and subtropical deciduous forests with evergreen undergrowth.Adult birds remain in or close to their territories throughout the year. First‐year birds undertake longer movements during the winter. Breeding territories are relatively small, from 2,500 up to (exceptionally) 10,000 square yards (2,100‐8,400 sq. m).Breeding begins in October. Both sexes build the nest, but only the female incubates. In southern Africa there is one brood a year, and the care of the offspring is protracted. The juvenile moult begins in the third and ends in the sixth month; adults have only one (post‐breeding) moult a year.The begging behaviour of the young is somewhat different from that of most other turdine birds, and is considered to be more primitive. The ontogeny of the adult displays is described as observed in young birds kept in captivity.The development of vocal behaviour is described. Special attention is given to the different functional forms of the song, and to two of its special features, imitation and a tonal quality termed vox humana.
GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN GENTOO PENGUINS PYGOSCELIS PAPUA
Authors: Stonehouse Bernard 
Published: April 2008

SummaryField and museum measurements confirm the existence of a morphologically distinct southern subspecies of Gentoo Penguin Pygoscelis papua ellsworthi, breeding on the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Orkney and South Shetland Islands. Morphological and zonal differences between other island stocks are noted, but present evidence does not support further definition of subspecies.
THE MOULT OF REMIGES AND RECTRICES IN GREAT BLACK‐BACKED GULLS LARUS MARZNUS AND GLAUCOUS GULLS L. HYPERBOREUS IN ICELAND
Authors: Ingolfsson Agnar 
Published: April 2008

SummaryThe moult of primaries, secondaries, and rectrices in two closely‐related gulls, the Great Black‐backed Gull Larus mavinus and the Glaucous Gull L. hyperboreus, was studied in Iceland. Both gulls moult their primaries in an extremely regular sequence, starting with the 1st (innermost) and ending with the 10th (oiltermost) feather. Usually two, less often one or three, primaries are growing per wing during the primary moult, which lasts for about six or seven months. Growlng primaries were estimated to lengthen on the average by 8.7 mm per day in marinus and 7.8 mm per day in hyperboreus.The secondaries, usually 24 in number, are shed in two moult waves, one starting with the innermost feather soon after the start of the primary moult and then progressing slowly outwards, the other beginning with the outermost secondary after the primary moult is about half completed and then progressing rapidly inwards. The moult is completed just before the end of the primary moult as the two moult waves meet at about the 16th secondary. There are no marked differences between the two gulls in the moult of secondaries.The moult of rectrices shows large variations in both species, some feathers being much more irregular than others in their time of shedding. In both species, indications of an obscured centrifugal pattern of replacement are seen, although the 5th (next to the outermost) rectrix is usually the last one to be shed. Significant differences were observed between the two species in the degree of regularity of shedding of some feathers and in the average position in the moulting sequence of others. The moult of rectrices starts soon after the moult of primaries is half completed. The feathers are then shed in rapid succession, and the moult is completed some time before the end of the primary moult.The need for good powers of flight at all times is undoubtedly the reason for the protracted primary moult. This in turn causes the moult to start early, in adults sotnetimes before the eggs are laid; immatures moult even earlier than this. The rectrix moult and the main part of the secondary moult do not begin in adults until the young have fledged, but then progress very rapidly. Presumably, the loss of some of these feathers would impair the flying ability to an extent sufficient to make it difficult for the gulls to care for their young, while the rapid moult is necessary in order for the replacement of these feathers to be completed by the time the primary moult is over.
THE NOTATION OF BIRD‐SONG:A REVIEW AND A RECOMMENDATION
Authors: Hold Trevor 
Published: April 2008

SummaryThe reasons for a systematic form of notation of bird‐song are discussed. Though the sound spectrograph will remain the primary tool in any study of bird‐vocalization, there is still a need for a simple, comprehensive notation for the bird‐watcher. This will act as a supplement to the bird‐song recordings now available. After a survey of various attempts at bird‐notation, from syllabic notation to the sophisticated graph‐methods suggested by Stadler & Schmitt, A. A. Saunders and Gladys Page‐Wood, recommendations for a comprehensive notation are made, illustrated by notated examples of song‐phrases from the Nightingale.