Cock-of-the-rock

p. 35-68, [10] p. of plates (2 col.) : ill., map ; 27 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-68)."Ethological observations of the breeding behavior of the cock-of-the-rock as observed in 1961 in the mountain forest of the Kanuku Mountains, British Guiana, are reported. Three dancing arenas were studied. At one, observations were made over a period of 20 consecutive days. The behavior of the cocks in their display arena is described, and their display attitudes and their display paraphernalia are illustrated. It was found that a clan of three cocks, each with its own terrestrial lek, joined forces to defend a social display arena some 70 feet in diameter in the mountain forest. The clan males lived in and around this arena almost continuously. The females lived apart from the males in the vicinity of a nesting cave 625 feet from the display arena. In this cave were four nests on which the females habitually slept and on which they often perched by day. The interactions between adult males, between adult males and a wandering clan of young males, and between the adult males and females are described. The adult males posture stiffly on their ground leks when a female visits the arena. They resemble bits of gold carpet on the brown floor of the forest. The manner in which the female signals a prospective mate is described. A general description of the ecology and meteorology of the Kanuku Mountains precedes a discussion of arena behavior in general. In the latter are comments on the biological advantages of this form of breeding behavior, and its probable mode of evolution. The advantages are postulated as resulting from the greater expendability of the males (a much smaller percentage of each generation is needed for the perpetuation of the species), permitting more severe selection and consequently more rapid evolutionary advancement. Arena behavior in the cock-of-the-rock is postulated as having arisen as a fortuitous result of the division of work between the sexes. This division is postulated as having resulted from two forces that may have been working simultaneously: natural selection in the direction of cryptic coloration in the parent attending the nest, and sexual selection in the direction of brighter plumage and conspicuous patterns of behavior in the male. The peculiar stationary terrestrial postures of the males on their private leks are thought to have resulted in part from relict tendencies (displacement activities) for nest building and nest care. These tendencies are postulated as having been superimposed on the pattern of courtship. The nests are built of mud droplets gathered by the female. One nest weighed 8 1/2 pounds. The carrying of this amount of mud must have required many hundreds of visits to the ground by the female. Therefore ground visiting (like nest building) is believed to be a deep-seated activity, a fixed action pattern, of the central nervous system which is far more easily diverted than dropped, which is an added reason for assuming that lek building and arena behavior evolved largely as displacement activities for nest building and nest care--activities that doubtless were once components of the behavior of the males of the primitive cotinga from which the cock-of-the-rock originated. An outline of arena behavior throughout the world is given. The hypothesis is advanced that arena behavior has a common origin in all the birds that practice it. It is courtship behavior as reshaped by emancipated males to include their non-discardable nesting tendencies, as is postulated for the cock-of-the-rock. The taxonomic conclusion is reached that, despite its manakin-like ethology, Rupicola is probably closely allied to Procnias"--P. 66-67

Manucode

13 p. : maps ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 12-13)

New puffbird from Colombia

3 p. ; 24 cm.Includes 1 bibliographical reference (p. 2)

Manakin

19 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 19)."The courtship displays of a clan of blue-backed manakins (Chiroxiphia pareola), observed in 1958 on Tobago Island, are described. Two forms of dancing were found: (a) a vertical cartwheel dance involving two males, which seemed to persist until one of the males became too fatigued to dance any further; and (b) a 'bouncing' dance involving one to four males, in which the birds bounced lightly back and forth (often over each other) on nearly horizontal limbs. The cartwheel dances were executed by mixed pairs of males of various ages ranging from the nearly solid green young male and the red-crowned green subadult to the blue-backed, red-headed adult. The clan of manakins was observed dancing in four bowers located in a line close to the ground in tall second-growth forest. One of these bowers seemed to be the primary dancing area. None of the bowers was defended, and none was the private dancing stage of a particular male or pair of males. Instead, the bowers were used seemingly at random, the pairs of males resorting to them to dance the cartwheel dance when, for unknown reasons, they chose to desert one of the other bowers, even in the midst of a dance. This shifting of arenas is postulated to be a mechanism of defense to offset the actions of predators attracted by the dances. Ecology, mechanical noises, calls, and bower building are described. The last consists of a leaf stripping around the bowers. Reference is made to leaf stripping in the magnificent bird of paradise (Diphyllodes) and to the clearing of the ground in certain other bower-making birds. It is postulated that the clearing away of arboreal and terrestrial leaves and debris may also be a mechanism of defense, as it almost certainly tends to reduce the protective value to predators of their cryptic coloration. Social dancing between males in these highly polygamous manakins is thought to function as a replacement for fighting in the selection of the dominant breeding stock"--P. 18-19

Birds of southeastern Papua

40 p. ; 24 cm.Includes 2 bibliographical references

Birds of Venezuela

33 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 32-33)

New genus of honeyeater (Aves)

5 p. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 5)

Results of the American Museum of Natural History expedition to New Guinea in 1964

41 p. : map ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-41)

Birds from Bataan

p. 461-504, [1] leaf of plates : ill., map ; 27 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 504

New birds from New Guinea

15 p. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 15)