Selective vocal learning in a sparrow

Male swamp sparrows learn their songs; they fail to learn songs of the sympatric song sparrow. Syllables from tape recordings of both species of sparrow were spliced into an array of swamp sparrow-like and song sparrow-like temporal patterns. Swamp sparrows learned only those songs made of swamp sparrow syllables. They did so irrespective of whether the temporal pattern was swamp sparrow-like or song sparrow-like. Selectivity was retained by birds reared in total isolation from adult conspecific sounds.     

Sparrows learn adult song and more from memory

Male swamp sparrows reared in the laboratory and exposed to taped songs during infancy produce accurate imitations of the material following an 8-month interval with no rehearsal. When the first rehearsal occurs, at about 300 days of age, large numbers of syllables are perfected. They are developed through invention and improvisation as well as imitation. Most are discarded at the time of song crystallization. Hence, these songbirds learn more than they manifest in full adult song.     

Categorical perception of a natural stimulus continuum: birdsong

A fundamental issue in perception and communication is how continuously varying stimuli are partitioned into discrete categories. In swamp sparrow songs, note duration is a critical feature distinguishing two note categories with different roles in song construction. Pairs of songs with initial notes from different categories contrast more in their effects on territorial males than song pairs with initial notes differing by the same amount but taken from within one note category. The results indicate categorical perception by wild swamp sparrows.     

Altered perception of species-specific song by female birds after lesions of a forebrain nucleus

Female birds that do not normally sing possess brain nuclei associated with song production in males. To determine whether one song nucleus, the caudal nucleus of the ventral hyperstriatum (HVc), acts in conspecific song perception, courtship responses of female canaries to canary and white-crowned sparrow songs were compared before and after HVc lesions. Bilateral lesions of a portion of the HVc resulted in copulation solicitations to heterospecific song as well as conspecific song. Control females continued to respond only to conspecific song. This suggests that the HVc is critical for conspecific song perception in females. Because female canaries do not normally sing, neurons in female HVc must develop response selectivity by a mechanism different from that proposed for male birds in the motor theory of song perception.     

Early experience determines song dialect responsiveness of female sparrows

In a laboratory experiment, female white-crowned sparrows responded almost exclusively to male songs taken from their home dialect region and usually not to songs taken from an alien dialect region. Song dialect populations may represent a level of genetic population structure below that of the subspecies and may play an important role in songbird evolution.     

Reproductive development in a female songbird: differential stimulation by quality of male song

Female canaries exposed to playback of large repertoires of male songs built nests faster and laid more eggs than did those females exposed to smaller song repertoires: females are attentive to attributes of male song, and their choices have played a role in the evolution of oscine singing behaviors.     

Songs of humpback whales

1) Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce a series of beautiful and varied sounds for a period of 7 to 30 minutes and then repeat the same series with considerable precision. We call such a performance "singing" and each repeated series of sounds a "song." 2) All prolonged sound patterns (recorded so far) of this species are in song form, and each individual adheres to its own song type. 3) There seem to be several song types around which whales construct their songs, but individual variations are pronounced (there is only a very rough species-specific song pattern). 4) Songs are repeated without any obvious pause between them; thus song sessions may continue for several hours. 5) The sequence of themes in successive songs by the same individual is the same. Although the number of phrases per theme varies, no theme is ever completely omitted in our sample. 6) Loud sounds in the ocean, for example dynamite blasts, do not seem to affect the whale's songs. 7) The sex of the performer of any of the songs we have studied is unknown. 8) The function of the songs is unknown.     

White-Crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli) to Song

The pattern of responses of both male and female white-crowned sparrows to playback of recorded song depends on whether the female has eggs, nestlings, or fledglings, and on the behavior under consideration. These patterns can be understood in the context of the behavior patterns appropriate during each of the different stages of the reproductive cycle.     

Freedom and rules: the acquisition and reprogramming of a bird's learned song

Canary song is hierarchically structured: Short stereotyped syllables are repeated to form phrases, which in turn are arranged to form songs. This structure occurs even in the songs of young isolates, which suggests that innate rules govern canary song development. However, juveniles that had never heard normal song imitated abnormal synthetic songs with great accuracy, even when the tutor songs lacked phrasing. As the birds matured, imitated songs were reprogrammed to form typical canary phrasing. Thus, imitation and innate song constraints are separate processes that can be segregated in time: freedom in youth, rules in adulthood.     

生存环境对雌雄树麻雀体重和基础代谢率影响的研究

[目的]通过研究不同外界环境条件下雌雄树麻雀体重和基础代谢率的变化,深入了解小型鸟类应对环境的生存和繁殖对策以及繁殖期繁殖预算对生存预算的影响。[方法]首先对捕获的成年树麻雀随机分为4组,即低温组5℃（12L：12D）;高温组25℃（12L：12D）;长光组25℃（16L：SD）;短光组25℃（8L：16D）,在人工气候箱中进行驯化饲养28d;然后测定其体重和基础代谢率,同时通过生理解剖确定雌雄,最后进行统计分析。[结果]体重差异情况,除短光组雌雄麻雀间极显著（P〈0．01）外,其他组别均差异不显著。基础代谢率情况,高温组雌雄麻雀间差异显著,低温组则不显著;高温组和低温组雌麻雀间差异极显著,而雄麻雀间有差异,但差异不显著：短先组雌雄麻雀基础代谢率均比长光组有所增加,但雌麻雀不显著,而雄麻雀增加显著（P〈0．05）。[结论]不同生境条件下,雌雄麻雀通过改变体重和基础代谢率来适应不断变化的生存环境。     

Hawaiian courtship songs: evolutionary innovation in communication signals of Drosophila

In Hawaii, flies of the genus Drosophila have undergone spectacular adaptive radiation, resulting in the evolution of more than 500 species of Drosophila that are found nowhere else on earth. This taxonomic uniqueness is reflected in behavior and morphology. Hawaiian Drosophila sing songs, as do continental Drosophila; however, the Hawaiian songs have diverged strongly in form and mechanism of production. The click-song of D. fasciculisetae's (Maui) has a carrier frequency an order of magnitude higher than those reported in familiar continental species, such as D. melanogaster (170 hertz). Drosophila fasciculisetae's song resembles a cicada's more than a fly's song. The song of D. cyrtoloma (Maui) has a complex pulse rhythm more typical of crickets than flies. The pulse song of D. silvestris (Hawaii) closely resembles that of D. melanogaster in both pulse rhythm and carrier frequency, but D. melanogaster sings by vibrating its wings, whereas D. silvestris sings through abdominal vibrations. These mechanisms are radical departures from the continental wing song mechanism and are further examples of the remarkable behavioral innovation that has occurred in the Drosophila of Hawaii during their evolutionary transit through these islands.     

不同地区黑蚱蝉的形态结构与鸣声比较研究

黑蚱蝉的鸣声和其发音器,具有基本的构造和特性,即种性.但也有一定的地理差异,鸣声有单音色,复合声,主峰频率高低等变化,这和形态的大小,发音器及其辅助发音器的变化相一致.黑蚱蝉的召唤声和求偶声是鸣声分类较理想的类型,而群鸣声不能用于种下分类.     

Phonotaxis of crickets in flight: attraction of male and female crickets to male calling songs

Large numbers of two species of mole crickets flew to loudspeakers playing the appropriate calling song outdoors. Mated females were more frequently captured than unmated ones, and males were 12 percent of the catch. Crickets of three other subfamilies were trapped as they flew to mole cricket songs resembling their own.     

Multimodal signals: enhancement and constraint of song motor patterns by visual display

Many birds perform visual signals during their learned songs, but little is known about the interrelationship between visual and vocal displays. We show here that male brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) synchronize the most elaborate wing movements of their display with atypically long silent periods in their song, potentially avoiding adverse biomechanical effects on sound production. Furthermore, expiratory effort for song is significantly reduced when cowbirds perform their wing display. These results show a close integration between vocal and visual displays and suggest that constraints and synergistic interactions between the motor patterns of multimodal signals influence the evolution of birdsong.     

枣食芽象甲触角感器的扫描电镜观察

利用扫描电镜对枣食芽象甲(Scythropus yasumatsui Kono et Morimoto)(鞘翅目:象甲科)雌、雄成虫触角的感器进行观察,比较它们的形态及分布。结果表明,枣食芽象甲雌、雄成虫触角均呈膝焰状,由柄节、梗节和鞭节(含7个鞭亚节)构成,共有7类8种感器,分别为鳞形感器、2种端指形感器、毛形感器、刺形感器、锥形感器、栓锥形感器和芽孢形感器。其中,端指形感器和毛形感器数量较多。各种感器的数量分布以鞭节上最多,柄节次之,梗节最少;触角感器类型及其分布在雌、雄成虫间差异不大,仅雄虫触角平均长度较雌虫长。     

Temporal pattern shifts to avoid acoustic interference in singing birds

Two species of forest birds, the least flycatcher and the red-eyed vireo, when breeding in the same season in the same habitat, adjust their temporal pattern of singing to avoid the overlapping of songs. The avoidance of acoustic interference is more marked in the flycatcher, which has a briefer song than the vireo.     

Hormone-induced sexual differentiation of brain and behavior in zebra finches

The male zebra finch sings, whereas the female does not. This behavioral dimorphism is correlated with the presence of morphological sex differences within the neural substrate that mediates this behavior, the song system. When a female chick is exposed to 17beta-estradiol her song system is subsequently masculinized. Either testosterone or 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone may then induce such a female to sing when an adult.     

声乐教学中古诗词艺术歌曲特色探究

本文以探究古诗词艺术歌曲特色为视角,从声乐教学角度出发,通过阐述古诗词艺术歌 曲的演唱技巧、声乐教学中古诗词艺术歌曲的意境把握以及声乐教学中古诗词艺术歌曲的美学 价值,进一步明确在声乐教学中应该如何指导学生来演唱此类作品,如何让学生准确的把握古诗 词艺术歌曲的演唱特色。强调在声乐教学中,学习古诗词艺术歌曲不仅要求学生有着一定的声 乐技巧,更要求学生拥有深厚的文化素养,真正切实的唱出古诗词艺术歌曲的魂,有较高的参考 价值和社会意义。     

Molecular transfer of a species-specific behavior from Drosophila simulans to Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila males modulate the interpulse intervals produced during their courtship songs. These song cycles, which are altered by mutations in the clock gene period, exhibit a species-specific variation that facilitates mating. We have used chimeric period gene constructs from Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans in germline transformation experiments to map the genetic control of their song rhythm difference to a small segment of the amino acid encoding information within this gene.     

中国蟋蟀总科昆虫分类学研究概况

简述了中国蟋蟀总科昆虫的分类系统及其分类学的现状;在形态学方面,中国蟋蟀总科昆虫已知230种（亚种）,隶属于10科69属;概述了蟋蟀鸣声和发声器、细胞分类学、分子系统学等3个方面的研究概况.