Transcriber Note—The link [Ref] at Chapter headers links to the corresponding listing in the [References] section at the end of the book.
STRAY FEATHERS
FROM A BIRD MAN'S DESK
STRAY
FEATHERS
FROM
A BIRD MAN'S
DESK
By Austin L. Rand
CURATOR OF BIRDS,
CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
WITH CARTOONS BY RUTH JOHNSON
DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC., GARDEN CITY, N.Y., 1955
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 55-5254
Copyright, 1955, by Austin L. Rand ©
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States
At the Country Life Press, Garden City, N.Y.
First Edition
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| Introduction | [9] |
| Birds Using Tools | [15] |
| Birds as Brigands | [19] |
| Birds Bathing | [22] |
| How Birds Anoint Their Feathers | [25] |
| Traveling Birds' Nests | [28] |
| Maladaptation in Birds | [31] |
| Feathered Baby Sitters and Co-op Nursery Nests | [35] |
| Birds' Nests and Their Soup | [38] |
| Walled Wives of Hornbills | [42] |
| Buried Eggs and Young | [45] |
| The Snowy Owl as a Trade Index | [48] |
| Monkey Birds | [51] |
| Bird-Made Incubators | [54] |
| Cormorant Fishing | [57] |
| The Shrike's Larder | [60] |
| Bird Flavors | [63] |
| How Many Feathers Has a Bird? | [66] |
| Last Year's Birds' Nests | [68] |
| Symbiosis—Animals Living in Mixed Households | [73] |
| Bird Apartment Houses | [77] |
| Bird Helpers at Nesting Time | [81] |
| A Name for a Boat | [84] |
| Weavers and Tailors in the Bird World | [88] |
| Social Parasites among Birds | [91] |
| Fish Eats Bird! | [95] |
| Crows Are Smarter Than "Wise" Owls | [98] |
| Tame Wild Birds | [101] |
| Birds as Pilferers | [104] |
| Hibernation in Birds | [108] |
| Snakeskins in Birds' Nests | [111] |
| Co-operation by Birds | [117] |
| Watchdogs at the Nest | [121] |
| Bird Guides to Honey | [124] |
| Oxpeckers | [127] |
| Wings in Feeding | [130] |
| Instrumental Music of Birds | [133] |
| Conditioning in Birds | [136] |
| Poisonous Birds | [140] |
| Kingfishers on the Telephone | [143] |
| On Identifying Sea Serpents | [147] |
| Conservation over the Telephone | [151] |
| Birds Washing Food | [154] |
| How Animal Voices Sound to Foreign Ears | [157] |
| Sight Identification | [160] |
| Green Hunting Jays Turn Blue | [164] |
| How Birds Use Cows as Hunting Dogs | [167] |
| Early Bird Listing | [171] |
| Battle of the Sexes and Its Evolutionary Significance | [173] |
| Water in the Desert | [177] |
| Bird Graveyards | [180] |
| Animal Gardens | [183] |
| Dropping Things | [186] |
| Learning by Birds | [189] |
| Can Birds Count? | [192] |
| Courtship Feeding | [195] |
| They Turned the Tables | [198] |
| Survival of the Unfit | [201] |
| Dust and Snow Bathing | [204] |
| Decoration in the Home | [207] |
| Curiosity in Birds | [210] |
| References | [213] |
| Index | [221] |