Publications

Anting, a bird’s intentional exposure of its body surface to chemical substances secreted by ants or other agents, has been recorded in over 20 species of birds of 40 families, mostly within the order Passeriformes. Our observations of anting in the Puerto Rico tanager (Neospingus speculiferus) extend the phenomenon to a new genus and the 14th species of the Thraupidae.

Nonimmune homing pigeons Columba livia were infected with the Jones' Barn strain of Trichomonas gallinae and subsequently transfused with plasma from acute or chronically infected pigeons harboring one of 3 different strains of T. gallinae. The transfusions were either a single 2 mi dose given one day after inoculation or three 1 ml doses given 0, 5, and 10 days after inoculation. Plasma from pi

Canvasback ducks wintering on Chesapeake Bay had a 6% incidence of Leucocytozoon sirnondi and 2% incidence of Haemoproteus. Sub-inoculation of whole blood into Pekin ducklings produced a Plasmodium infection rate of 31%. Females were more frequently infected (12/22) than males (15/68). The parasite was identified as P. circumflexum.

In 1968 and 1969, 60 American woodcock (Philohela minor) were collected before and after alighting on summer fields in central Maine. A comparison of stomach contents from these birds showed that woodcock fed prior to entering fields at dusk. No evidence was found to indicate that any substantial amount of food was eaten by birds remaining on fields throughout the night. In 1968, the availabili

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

An outbreak of fowl cholera (Pasteurella multocida infection) occurred in waterfowl wintering on the Chesapeake Bay during February to March 1970. Losses were primarily confined to sea ducks: oldsquaws (Clangula hyemalis), white-winged scoters (Melanitta deglandi), goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula), and buffleheads (Bucephala albeola).

On 8 November 1968 in Gainesville, Florida, I removed a male Bronzed Cowbird (Tangavius a. aeneus) from a blackbird decoy trap containing a large number of Brown-headed Cowbirds (Malothrus ater). Oliver L. Austin, Jr., at the Florida State Museum, verified the species identification by noting the notched inner webs of the outer three primaries, a characteristic of the genus. The subspecific identi

Ficken and Ficken (Auk, 85: 136, 1968) suggest that the "Head-scratching method may prove a valuable addition to the set of complex characters that can be used in defining genera," and that field observers should continue to fill gaps in our knowledge of this behavior. In the course of a series of observations of Swainson's Warblers (Limnothlypis swainsonii) in the Dismal Swamp, Virginia, I saw he

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

Until a little over a decade ago reports of Plasrnodium in geese, ducks, and swans were the result of examination of single blood smears from wild birds. One would gather from the earlier studies that Anatidae are infrequently infected. During the past decade we have conducted studies on prevalence of Plasmodium by an isodiagnosis technique, inoculating blood from wild birds into captive young g