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.     

A test for responsiveness to song structure and programming in female sparrows

Female song sparrows, primed with implants of estradiol, gave the solicitation display for copulation in response to acoustic stimulation with song. This technique demonstrated that female song sparrows respond more strongly to conspecific song than to alien songs, that they discriminate on the basis of both overall temporal pattern and syllabic structure, that they respond more to several song types than to repetitions of one song, and that they are most responsive to several song types if the songs are organized in bouts of a single type, as they are normally delivered by a male song sparrow. These results demonstrate a substantial correspondence between the structure and programming of the singing behavior of male birds and female responsiveness to song.     

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.     

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.     

Molecular genetic relationships of the extinct dusky seaside sparrow

Mitochondrial DNA from the extinct dusky seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens) was compared in terms of nucleotide sequence divergence to mitochondrial DNAs from extant populations of seaside sparrows. Analyses of restriction sites revealed a close phylogenetic affinity of A. m. nigrescens to other sparrow populations along the Atlantic coast of the United States but considerable genetic distance from Gulf coast birds. Concerns and applied management strategies for the seaside sparrow have been based on a morphological taxonomy that does not adequately reflect evolutionary relationships within the complex.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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。     

Interspecific genetic control of courtship song production and reception in Drosophila

The genetic control of courtship song differences between Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans males was investigated by producing hybrids from reciprocal crosses. The song rhythm difference between the parental species appears to be due to sex-linked genes, whereas the basic interpulse-interval difference is autosomally inherited. Hybrid females show selective preferences for artificially generated songs carrying intermediate "hybrid" characteristics.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

3株广西麻雀源H9N2亚型禽流感病毒对SPF鸡的致病性

【目的】明确麻雀源H9N2亚型禽流感病毒(AIV)对鸡群的致病性,既有利于了解麻雀在H9N2亚型AIV传播生态链中的作用,对科学防控H9N2亚型AIV的暴发流行也具有重要意义。【方法】选取3株HA基因处于不同进化分支的广西麻雀源H9N2亚型AIV进行SPF鸡致病性试验,将84羽4周龄SPF鸡随机均分为4组(空白对照组和3个感染组)。感染组每组以100μL稀释至106EID₅₀/100μL的病毒液经鼻腔感染16羽SPF鸡,于病毒感染24 h后分别在各感染组放入剩余的5羽SPF鸡作为空白接触组,感染后观察鸡群的临床症状及剖检病理变化,在不同时间点采集器官组织制作病理切片并检测不同器官中的病毒滴度及分布情况。【结果】3株麻雀源H9N2亚型AIV在HA蛋白裂解位点处不存在多个碱性氨基酸插入现象,表现为RSSR↓GLF,符合低致病性AIV(LPAIV)的典型分子特征;对鸡胚的半数感染量(EID₅₀)在10-6.0/0.2 mL~10-6.8/0.2 mL,半数致死量(ELD₅₀)在10-6.8/0.2 mL~10-7.2/0.2 mL。3株H9N2亚型AIV均可直接感染SPF鸡,且病毒在不同器官中的滴度及分布存在一定差异;感染SPF鸡后均未表现出明显的临床症状和死亡现象,但在上呼吸道的气管及肺脏出现一定程度的充血和出血、气管纤毛脱落及炎性淋巴细胞浸润等病变。3株麻雀源H9N2亚型AIV感染SPF鸡后的排毒期主要介于第1~7 d,且能不经体内适应而直接感染鸡群并排毒;3株麻雀源H9N2亚型AIV在SPF鸡各器官中的复制能力存在一定差异,可在气管和肺脏中进行有效复制,而在肝脏、脑、胰腺、胸腺、心脏、盲肠扁桃体及法氏囊中均未检测到对应的病毒。【结论】麻雀源H9N2亚型AIV可直接感染鸡群且具有在鸡群间水平传播的潜在风险,提示在家禽饲养、运输及销售等环节要做好相关的防护措施,切断AIV在野鸟与家禽间的传播途径,减少禽流感暴发造成的经济损失。     

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.     

Entrainment of circadian rhythms by sound in Passer domesticus

The circadian locomotor rhythm of house sparrows was entrained by a sound stimulus. The birds were maintained at a constant temperature in, dim green light. The entraining agent was 4 (1/2) 12 hours of tape-recorded bird song ,played each day. Variations in the response to this stimulus have been correlated with individual variations in free-running period. This is the first clear demonstration that a biological clock can be influenced by sound stimuli.     

卫拉特婚礼歌谣的民俗审视

本文通过对卫拉特婚礼歌所承载的丰富的生活习俗文化进行分析和认识，进而向人们展示卫拉特人民丰富多彩的文化生活。通过对卫拉特婚礼歌谣中所蕴含的深刻的文化内涵的进一步透析和探讨，进而希望为歌谣的研究寻求一条新的研究视角和思路。     

Temporal pattern as a cue for species-specific calling song recognition in crickets

Female crickets can recognize conspecific calling song from its temporal pattern alone. In Teleogryllus oceanicus, the song pattern consists of three classes of interpulse intervals arranged in a stereotyped sequence. Females recognize a model song in which the sequential order of intervals is random. This argues against the hypothesis that recognition results from matching auditory input to an internal template of the song.