Sentence:  He stroked the hens and they responded with delighted clucks , he gobbled with the turkeys and they at once <WSD>were</WSD> all attention , he quacked with the ducks , and cackled with a pair of exceedingly flattered geese . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)